Misguided
by CertifiedBeverage
Summary: So once again, Law managed to find another stray. However this time around, he might have ended up with more trouble than he bargained for. The damn brat can't even remember his own name. Modern AU. Nakamaship
1. Spirits vs the Spirited

This story contains Dressrosa arc spoilers.

Seriously, catch up on the manga first.

**Part One**

**Chapter 1: Spirits vs. the Spirited**

**Tuesday—19 August, 2014 **

"Hey, you! Are you awake?"

Law was actually unsure at first since the young boy was lying face first into the ground. Nevertheless, the boy obviously heard him since he visibly flinched. A large straw hat laid over the boy's head covering his face touching the dirt below. He was definitely an outdoorsy type considering his shaggy black hair and lack of shoes. Other than that, the boy looked like a normal kid no older than seven or eight.

"Oh, good. Have you seen a small, annoyingly energetic girl? She has blonde hair in pigtails-"

The boy sat up wiping his face from snot and tears. He adjusted the straw hat away from his eyes to scan the secluded park. The park was on the smaller side, but even so, they were surrounded by a surprising amount of greenery despite being in a pretty suburban area. Well, mostly suburban. The forest in the back was dense, but what really stood out was a rather massive oak tree just within the park boundaries. Of course, there was normal playground equipment such as a couple of swings, a small jungle gym with a slide, and even a see-saw. Law watched the boy scan the park thoroughly. After a brief pause, the straw hat boy snapped back to the speaker and simply blinked.

Law is not going to lie. Today was hot. _Miserably_ hot. It was his fault. He knew, but he is still in denial over his current school uniform situation. Normally the air condition is on the colder side, so he dresses accordingly. The summer uniform doesn't include long enough sleeves in his opinion, so he just wears the one with the thick, blue-collared jacket and black pants. Yes, he is wearing a uniform made for _winter_ in the middle of fucking August. His trademark fluffy, white spotted hat isn't helping much either. Honestly, all of this wouldn't even matter if he were inside studying like usual, but no, today he gets to experience seasons other than room temperature.

The student sighed continuing once more, "She was probably singing to some dumb pop song, and her directions suck. She's not picking up her phone and- hey, are you even listening to me?"

The boy bit his lip taking a second glance around the still empty playground before staring back at the student like he grew a second head.

He dragged a hand down his face. Is yes or no too hard?

"You. _Kid_. Brat-with-the-straw-hat. Have you seen the girl or not? This is important," Law said, pinching the bridge of his nose. He sighed at the thought for yet another search for _another_ goddamn park in some other neighborhood he might have missed along the way. How many parks has he visited today? Doesn't matter. Law stopped counting after the seventh. He was completely exhausted. "Okay, okay. I get it. You don't know. Bye, I'm leaving."

"W-wait," the young boy said, finally speaking up before the white hatted student got the chance to leave. "You _are_ talking to me, right?"

The student, about to cross the street, stopped to turn around back to the boy. "Of course I'm talking to you," he said. "It is already 7pm and almost curfew. Who _else_ is here? Squirrels?"

The boy with the straw hat started to cry in full force. Great. Law couldn't leave now without feeling like an asshole.

"Fine, okay. What is your number?" Law asked, taking out his phone. "I'll call your parents to tell them that their annoying-ass brat somehow managed to get lost in this park." The student groaned checking his phone's clock. 7:02pm. He sighed. Curfew is in less than an hour now, and this kid is obviously upset over something.

"Parents?" he said, sniffling and tilting his head to the side in confusion. "What does that have to do with anything? But wait listen! Please! There is something I have to do. No, something I _NEED_ to do!" The boy launched himself forward from his spot. His crying face from earlier was now completely replaced with a large ear-to-ear grin.

Law moved his fingers up to the top of his temples in attempt to soothe or at least delay the upcoming headache. The student could already feel the regret in his upcoming question.

"What is _oh-so _very important that must be done right fucking now, Straw Hat-ya?" he said bitterly. Law wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. It was getting pretty damn late and he still had to find his 10-year-old sister. She is a strong girl and can honestly handle herself, but Law still was worried. He didn't want anything to happen to her, nor did he want to burden his hard-working parents with a phone call from the marines complaining that their kids can't follow the rules.

"Oh, ahh! Uh- I forgot."

**x_x_x**

Trafalgar D. Water Law lives a pretty solid life according to himself. His family is great. He has two successful doctors as parents—his mom is an oncologist while his dad is a cardiologist. And then of course, he has Lamie—his baby sister. Despite being a pain in the ass at times, Law undeniably adores her.

Before Lamie was born, they lived in the White City of Flevance, Italy. Though, Law was too young to remember much about it. East Blue is fine too. Honestly, everywhere is almost the same with the World Government in charge. East Blue is primarily known for the city of Lougetown and the Goa Kingdom, but in between is a long peninsula cost filled with a series of small suburban towns. Everything is mostly connected by the central train line and then buses for the outskirts. Which is awesome for younger people without cars. They generally have a lot more freedom here than, for instance, the interstate heavy South Blue.

Law takes pride in his almost completely self-sustained studies in human anatomy and biology. That plus his parent's influence, his path to a successful doctor is easily in reach. Law's parents recognized his educational self-discipline and determination early on and allowed him to independently study over the years. Before, he often spent his free time around his parents' workplace at the East Blue Hospital. The hospital had tons of reference books after all. He was never distracting to his parents nor to the other doctors around. That didn't really mean much though. It didn't take much for him to be out of the way. The boy was small and quiet—honestly a little bit too much of both for his age.

However because of all the time alone or on the sidelines, Law never really cared to socialize with people outside his family or even attempt to keep an active, healthy lifestyle. He's not one to go outside unless there is a purpose.

Thanks to Dr. Kureha's meddling, he found himself stuck going to a middle school in Orange Town for the semester. Apparently he should learn how to socialize and what not a better way than to hang out with brats his own size. Fortunately, Law is still allowed to continue his independent studies for the most part, except this time around, he will be watched to make sure he eats and move his feet in gym class. And of course, Dr. Kureha of the children's department will make sure of it. She can easily force her influence on the school system so her _beloved _patient doesn't get sick. Again.

It's been a little over a week since Law transferred, and generally, kids left him the hell alone. Something about dissecting random frogs and this one rabbit he found behind the school ball shed scares them away. In his defense, the rabbit was already dead. It would have been a waste to just let it rot.

"Trafalgar! Hey, Trafalgar! It's really you!"

Well, they mostly left him alone—especially when he was in the library with a pile of books covering the entire table made for six people. Law looked up from his reference book to spot a brown-haired, blue eyed boy in a similar but short-sleeved version of his uniform and a very familiar pink beanie with a doctor's cross like 'X' on the front.

It took a second, but Law recognized him. The kid was old man Hiluluk's pupil. It's been over two years since Hiluluk's sudden passing. He hasn't really seen the student since; a death of a loved one is a lot to handle for a small kid.

"It's been awhile, Tony-ya."

"So it's true that you are a student here now!" Tony Tony Chopper said with a huge grin, "Look, look! I'm a student as well! Sixth grade! Doctorine helped me skip a grade again, so I can hurry up and become a full-fledged doctor!"

"Hmmm. Not bad at all, Tony-ya. Looks like you got on Kureha's good side in the end." Law gave him a thumbs up. He is not one to discourage a future doctor.

"I'm not going to be happy if you compliment me like that, bastard~" Chopper blushed, waving his arms back and forth in a dance. Despite his words, he is obviously enjoying Law's rare praise.

_Bzzzz…_

Both boys look at a slight glow under a pile of notes in front of Law. "Ah! One sec, Tony-ya," Law said as he moved the stack of papers off his phone.

**__From: Lamie__**

_**(8/19/2014 2:31pm)** 'Law! Can u meet me at the park after school? I forgot my train pass :( '_

**__To: Lamie__**

_**(8/19/2014 2:31pm)** 'Don't text in class, stupid.'_

_**(8/19/2014 2:32pm)** 'But sure, where is this park? I'm not that familiar with the commute yet.' _

"Oh, is that Lamie!" the small student asked excitedly, plopping down in the chair to Law's right. Law nodded with a slight grin. Of course, Chopper hasn't forgotten how much Law enjoys chitchatting about his beloved sister. "I haven't seen her since I transferred here. Didn't you hear? Last year, we were in fourth grade together! Does she still want to be a veterinarian?"

"She is doing well. But no, she's moved on to wanting to be an artist. Then of course last month, she wanted to be a singer, but at least she is having more success with paint." He shook his head. God, she is completely tone death. "Also, it looks like I'll be picking her up from class today."

As the students small talked about school and such, Chopper casually helped Law sort and stack the biology reference books and the textbooks from various classes kind of like old times at the hospital. In the past, Law declined—no, refused his help. He didn't want some random brat getting snot and germs all over his notes. What if Lamie got sick? However, after Chopper received his pink hat, he quickly realized that the small boy was around for another reason—he was receiving supplementary lessons from the famous Dr. Hiluluk. Law stopped declining his help and occasionally even joined their tutoring sessions. He had to admit—it was cute to see such a young child interested in medicine and actually retaining at least a third of the basic information given.

After Hiluluk's death, Chopper became distant. The doctor passed away overnight, so the small student wasn't around at the time. Chopper pretty much stopped hanging around the hospital after hearing Hiluluk's last words straight from Law's mouth. The white hatted student didn't put it against him though. At the hospital, people come and go all the time.

"Hey, Trafalgar?" Chopper asked sheepishly. Law slowly glanced over to the small boy, noticing that his enthusiastic smile from the last half of class had faded. "Thank you for being around. You know, on that day and stuff," Chopper said, looking down at the now neatly stacked binders.

"Yeah." Law winced looking straight ahead. Back then, Dr. Kureha was there too, but yeah, only Law was able to hear. He's always the only one who could hear.

_When do you think people die? _

_When they are caught up in a devastating accident?_

_WRONG!_

_When they are struck with a terminal illness?_

_WRONG!_

_People die when they are forgotten!_

The boys parted ways a little before class ended. Law checked his phone only to find zero new messages. Perhaps her class let out late or something. He decided to text Lamie once more anyway before opening up the Google Maps app.

**__To: Lamie__**

_**(8/19/2014 3:04pm)** 'Hey Lamie, where do I go?'_

_**(8/19/2014 3:56pm)** 'I really don't want to spend the entire afternoon looking for you.'_

He spent the entire afternoon looking for her.

**x_x_x**

Law just stood there—blank expression, mouth slightly open like he was trying to respond. But, he couldn't. There were no words.

Before the straw hat boy got any closer, the student made a mad dash to the crosswalk to only be met with a red, glowing hand on the adjacent street. Law sighed and glanced back hoping the child wasn't tagging along.

Well, he wasn't. However that feeling of triumph didn't last when he found the boy kneeling over on the ground looking completely panicked and gasping for air, "I don't want...No, I-I'm so _tired_ of being alone…!"

"Shit, kid. This better not be a joke," the student said, tossing his plain, yellow backpack onto the ground.

He quickly rushed over to stabilize the boy before calling '911'. Law offered his hand only for it to be ignored. In frustration, he tried forcibly grabbing the boy's hands to roll him on his back in case of any needed CPR only to pass right through him and topple over.

_Ah. _Law sighed still on the ground. He rolled onto his back and simply stared up into the sky. Noticing it was changing into a warmer hue from the previous cold grey.

But, at least there was no immediate danger. This kid was already beyond saving with a '911' call, CPR, or anything of the like. He's seen these scenes at the hospital more often than he would have liked.

"Hey, Straw Hat-ya. Try your best to make it back inside the park," Law said, remembering that he was fine earlier, "I think you are outside your limits."

"...You aren't leaving?" the boy whimpered while slowly crawling back to the wood chip terrain around the large park equipment, "Aren't you busy?"

Law sat up to say something, anything, to get this kid to pass on quickly. It was getting late, and as much as he felt bad for the boy, he didn't want to be around when the marines found the body. If there even _was_ a body around. Running into a ghost here or there at the hospital didn't make Law an expert on the subject.

"Straw Ha-"

_Bzzzz…_

Law interrupted himself for the long-anticipated update on the whole Lamie situation.

**__From: Lamie__**

_**(8/19/2014 7:16pm)** 'I'm sooo sorry! D: Law, are u okay? Im home btw'_

_**(8/19/2014 7:16pm)** 'My phone died, so I rode home with Momo'_

_** (8/19/2014 7:17pm)** 'But it was a lot of fun. His dad is funny XD Oh and we got our HW done!'_

"Oh. I'm back to normal." The boy hopped around happily and threw punches into the air to show off. "See?"

"Hmmm. So what happened?" the student hummed now in a better mood. Law already put away his phone securely into a jacket pocket and grabbed his neglected bag off the ground. He walked deeper into the park's perimeters and sat on one of the four swings. "I'll listen to your story," he said. "Let's start with something easy… How about your name, Straw Hat-ya."

The boy thought about the question hard before digging into his nose with his pinky. "Don't have one."

"_Great_…" Law shook his head. "Do you have any memories at all?"

"Oh earlier today, there was this kid who found a _huge _centipede under a rock near the benches! Oh! And these other kids were talking about wanting to go to some pool. Can you teach me? I want to learn how to swim too-" Law promptly cut him off when he realized the boy didn't understand the question.

"Okay, then what about that scar under your eye? Recall anything about that? Actually better yet, are there any people you know? Ones that have talked to you _directly_?" Law questioned.

"Nope!" The boy grinned obviously not understanding the situation.

"Then why the fuck are you still lingering around in this world?"

Around the hospital, ghosts generally have a predictable pattern. Usually they just want someone to hear their life story and then leave—actually, more like disappear into the void without a trace. Law doesn't know what happens to them when they leave, but he never sees them around again. He assumes it's the norm, but it's not like he can compare it to anything. There aren't any studies on ghosts; Law checked. He has only found useless fiction and horror stories. Despite common belief, ghosts are not actually transparent, nor do they float or fly. Typically they are just whinier than normal brats at the hospital. Then again Law only discovers their existence when he tells them to shut the fuck up and stop bothering the other patients.

"What is wrong with lingering?" The young boy grumbled with a frown, "Can't really do much else when everyone is ignoring me all day."

"Straw Hat-ya," Law said continuing to his point with slight hesitation. "You know, you wouldn't be alone if you just crossed over."

"Cross over?"

"Because you are dead?"

After a long pause, he fell over on the ground laughing, "_Ahh_, I see~ A joke! Good one!"

Did he really think people were ignoring him on purpose or something? Even Law couldn't ignore someone for that long. "Straw Hat-ya, you are dead."

The straw hat boy tilted his head to the side and blinked.

Law stood up to step once through the kid before crouching temporarily next to him, "See? You are a ghost."

"WHAT?" He shouted with his face in shock. Looks like Law's words were beginning to sink in. "I can't be dead! I'm still here aren't I? Don't lie! Like I said, there is something I gotta do!"

"What can you even do in this state?" Law cringed. He really didn't like being the bearer of bad news. "My foot literally went straight through your stomach."

"No, it didn't!" the straw hat kid said with a pout. He jumped up to send his fist flying directly at the student only to trip and fall right through him.

"Happy now?" Law sighed. He went to plop next to the boy who is now lying on the ground again.

"Oh, I see," the young boy said. He rolled to his back only to sit right up. "You're the ghost!" he declared scratching his chin like it was the only possible solution.

"The hell I am!"

"Hey ghost, what is your name?" the boy asked with curiosity.

"Trafalgar L- Wait… _I'm not dead!_"

"Toh-Rahf-guh-gal… Torao! Got it," he paused to giggle before continuing, "I like you. Let's be friends!" The boy sported an ear-to-ear smile, "I always wanted a ghost for a friend."

"It's Trafalgar! Trafalgar _Law!_" The student barked. He never had anyone mispronounce his name so poorly before. "And stop trying to kill me off!"

Law took out his phone to check the time. It was now 7:37pm. Shit. The sky was turning into a deeper shade of orange.

"Hey Straw Hat-ya, I got to go. We'll finish this tomorrow."

"Eh? You're leaving? I won't allow it!" he whined.

"I have a life. It can't be helped," Law said, lifting himself off the ground.

The young boy frowned.

"I'll be back tomorrow. Can't have this stray haunting this poor, innocent park all week." He smirked.

"You better," the boy said. "We are _friends _after all!"

The student continued walking forward.

"How are you able to leave this park anyway? Is this some sort of ghost town?" Apparently the kid was still following. Well, somewhat at least—he was running back and forth without actually leaving the edge of the park.

Before crossing the street, Law almost forgot something important. "We're _not_ friends!"

**__To: Lamie__**

_**(8/19/2014 7:43pm)** 'Don't worry about it. I was only finishing up some homework. I'll be home before 8pm for sure.'_

_**(8/19/2014 7:43pm)** 'And besides, Mom and Dad don't get off for another hour anyway.'_

**x_x_x**

**Wednesday—20 August, 2014 **

"What's the deal with curfew anyway?" Law said, sitting on the step across from his sister. The morning rush-hour trains often have a lack of seats, so they currently perched on the opposite steps of the two adjacent mini staircases leading to the upper seating level. It was only a 10 minutes away from their house in Goat Town to her stop in Gosa Village anyway.

"Eh?" Lamie looked up from the screen of her 3DS. Apparently she is looking for a certain 'StreetPass'—something about an "Eon Ticket" for her new Pokémon game or whatever.

"I mean, there wasn't one when I was around your age, right?"

"Ahh, no. Yeah, it is definitely not _that_ old," Lamie said. "I think it's been there for a year." She bit the end of her stylus trying to remember more about the subject.

"You think?" Law said, raising an eyebrow.

"I _know_!" She pouted back.

_-Gosa Village! Gosa Village! Now arriving at Gosa Village!-_

"Oh! We are getting close now!" Lamie happily hummed, closing her 3DS to secure it away. They would be arriving at her stop any minute now.

"But seriously, what is the point of that curfew? Seems like a pain." He said frowning, "Weren't you upset about missing the Fourth of July fireworks this year?"

"Yeah, but I don't mind anymore. Bell-mère said 'It's to keep kids out of trouble'— Like yourself!" she said, pointing at her brother, "You almost didn't make home in time it last night!"

Ah, that's right. Law remembered she had an ex-marine for a homeroom teacher this semester.

"But, I made it right?" Law said, while sticking out his tongue playfully, ignoring the fact that yesterday was pretty much her fault. Well, _mostly_ her fault. He wondered if that ghost would still even be there after school.

"Yup!" She grinned.

**x_x_x**

Law chose the library again for the latter half of the day to work on his independent studies. He honestly enjoyed seventh period the most. It is quiet and comfortably empty. Then again it's not even really the last class of the day. Most opt to leave during sixth period because why not? Students have the option to sign up for zero period or seventh. Law just choses seventh because of the commute with Lamie. But honestly, none of this matters to Law anyway because of his custom schedule. He is not even technically in a grade. He is only here for gym class, which he has been avoiding since day one, and lunch.

Right now, he was not taking up an entire table like normal since Chopper wanted help with a fractions question. The eight-year-old might have talent for grasping science concepts, but his math skills needed a little touchup to match.

Law sighed and looked towards the back corner of the room filled with colorful posters and bean bag chairs. Probably the children's section. Nevertheless every day around now, he can hear the sound of a piano in the distance. "Hey Tony-ya, where is the music room?"

The small student looked at him confused. "Well, it's not too far from here— just outside the front door," he said, pointing at the opposite side of the library from the piano sounds, "And then around the corner near the indoor gym."

"Why do you—Oh! Do you play an instrument?" Chopper beamed. "I don't recall you caring much about music."

"Yeah, never bothered," Law said. "Don't see the point if audio books are an option. They are a better use of time." Law stared back at the wall shortly before continuing with the mini tutor session.

10 minutes passed and Chopper easily finished the rest of the practice problems.

"Now, all there is left is history!"

"Do you need help with that as well?" Law said. There wasn't really much time of the day left to continue his review of genes and DNA.

"No..." he said looking away from the student with shifty eyes.

Law frowned.

"Oh! Robin? Is that you Robin?" the pink hatted student called out desperately for the assistant teacher. It's no secret that Law was awful at anything history. The boy barely kept up with local news. The other day, he questioned who the hell _Whitebeard _was.

"Ah! Chopper!" The tall young woman known as Nico Robin calmly approached the table. She had noticeably long black hair, brown eyes, and wore a simple purple blouse with a black pencil skirt. Law has talked to Robin a handful of times within this past week. Law doesn't know quite what to think of her yet, but she is pretty much the only person with authority who hasn't scolded him for bringing sharp, surgical tools to school. She is currently studying anthropology for her bachelor's degree.

"How is sixth grade?"

"Good," Chopper said with slight hesitation.

She softly smiled. "You are in Nami's class, right?"

"And Ussop's…" he forced a smile back.

"I see. That's great."

Law could cut the tension with a knife. He snuck a peak at his phone for the time—2:27pm, zero new messages, 85 degrees, and sunny. Swell, 33 minutes of this terribly long period left.

"Nico-ya, how long are you going to be an assistant teacher?" Law said trying to notify them of his presence, hoping it would change the topic in the process.

"Just for this semester," Robin said. "I'll be graduating from UEB (University of East Blue) Lougetown in spring." She glanced back down to Chopper, who was now looking at the ground. "Even if not now… one day, I'll be sure to carry out my dream. _He_ would want that."

"Robin! Me too! I'll become a great doctor! I won't let anything like this happen again!" the young boy cried out.

She sat down in the chair next to Chopper and softly said, "I'm sure you will."

Law sighed. He eavesdrops on enough grim conversations at the hospital to know where this was going. The student was starting to be thankful for that hint of that piano in the background. It was something to focus on.

"But… but Usopp _still_ blames himself," Chopper cried. "…And Nami—I caught her pickpocketing from third years the other day! I don't want her to get hurt, but she won't listen!" Chopper clenched the pink hat on his head with enough force to take it right off. "And Zoro! I haven't even seen him since the semester started!"

"He _is_ registered for classes. I checked, but…" Robin bit her lip. "Zoro is going to be held back at this rate."

"What is happening to us, Robin?" Chopper questioned, putting his head on the table, holding tightly on the hat in his lap. "_I hate this!_ It wasn't supposed to be like this. It wasn't supposed to be like this at all!"

"Oh, Law," Robin said calmly. Looks like he was finally noticed. She leaned into the palm of her hand and grinned. "You're still here?"

The student got the not-so-subtle hint. Couldn't she do this earlier? He groaned and pushed out his chair preparing to leave.

"But Chopper," she said continuing, "We'll get through this eventually—_all_ of us."

Chopper wept as silently as he could, trying not to make a scene.

"Besides if the afterworld does exist, then we'll have plenty of time to sort out everything then," she chuckled.

"Robin, you are_ scaring_ me!" the pink hatted student yelped, swiftly lifting up his head.

"Okay, so where do you need help?—"

**x_x_x**

Once again Law found himself on the outskirts of Foosha Village, the furthest down stop on the line. He might have gotten off at the wrong stop. Twice. Well, to be fair, he wasn't exactly paying too much attention to location details yesterday, but at the same time, giant fucking windmills are hard to miss. At least now he has an excuse to refuse Lamie's last minute planning—for the rest of the week at least.

"Straw Hat-ya!"

No response from the few kids here except for a stare from a small girl in a floral dress. The student already felt his face heating up in embarrassment. People are going to think he is mentally ill again.

"Yo, Straw Hat-ya!"

At least the few people who know Law wouldn't find him nor doubt his sanity around here. It's the last stop in East Blue. Well, kind of. Goa Kingdom isn't exactly what Law would find a fun walk—or drive. Too many mountains. The train no longer runs through there either.

Law calmly walked past the kids with their judgmental eyes to stroll across the park. He even crouched to look under the slides and behind a small drinking fountain. He stopped under the shaded oak tree to rest. Law had to walk half a mile from the station to get here. _And_ it's still stupidly hot.

"Straw Hat-ya…" he groaned, leaning back against the bark of the tree.

Fuck. Even if these kids didn't know him, this was super awkward. He flustered at his various ghost related experiences at the hospital, remembering the looks and stares from the visitors and nurses around.

_'Hey mom,' a young child asked. 'Who is he talking to?'_

_'This is a hospital, sweetie. He is here to be treated—like your sick uncle.'_

Dr. Kureha says she understands, but Law can probably guess she thinks he is more on the schizophrenic side. She's tried to get him into counseling to no avail.

But maybe Law actually has schizophrenia? Who knows? Apparently no one else can see or write an accurate description of ghosts. Maybe he is crazy—insane even. It certainly wouldn't be the first time something was wrong with him.

"_Torao—!" _The student wasn't expecting for the straw hat boy to literally drop down from above. "You're _lat_e!"

In the back of his mind, Law thought it might be fine to be crazy just for one more afternoon.

"It's a fucking Wednesday." He pointed at his backpack and then uniform. "I had class."

"Torao!" the boy shouted, crying out happily.

Law flinched at the loud outburst only to remember. "It's _Trafalgar!_"

The student dug through his bag to grab a notepad and pen; it's finally time to figure out this kid's problem.

_Click_

He adjusted the notepad on his lap. "So Straw Hat-ya—"

"I'm _hungry!_" The boy fell on the ground sideways. The nonabsorbent tears formed a puddle on the dry ground.

Law dragged a hand down his face. "Can you even eat, Straw Hat-ya?"

"Of course!" The boy said. "Why couldn't I?" He furrowed his eyebrows, sitting right back up. "Do you have any food? I want a ham sandwich… No! A big, fat hamburger! ...Actually I want both. Can I have both? _Toraoo!_" He begged then nibbled on his fingers as if they were the food he craved.

Law scrunched up his nose for more reasons than one, but the boy continued to look at him with those big brown eyes. _Well_, if he is going to continue finding ghosts, then might as well take this opportunity to study one up close. It's a doctor's job to help people after all, and if he can fully learn how to help ghosts as well, then so be it. They are technically human, too.

Law finally spoke up probably seconds before the boy bit his fingers right off, "Will it make you remember something?"

The boy beamed. "Yup!"

He sighed, putting away the note pad and pen. "I'll buy a drink."

The straw hat boy frowned. "Ehh? That's not meat at all," he cried. "That's not even food!"

"Beggars can't be choosers." He shrugged, lifting off the ground. "I'll buy myself a drink then. Be back in like 15 minutes, Straw Hat-ya."

"Apple juice! No…wait- Chocolate milk!"

Law turned around and calmly stared at the kid. "Water."

"_Toraooo!_"

"That's not my _fucking_ name!"

**x_x_x**

"Welco— Hey, kid! This is Partys Bar—a _bar_. We don't serve underage brats here." The blue haired girl slammed a fist on the bar counter. She wore bright red headband and had on a white apron over a slightly worn-out, yellow polo shirt.

She was right, though. He probably shouldn't be here, but it didn't matter. Law wasn't going to spend $3.50 on a train ride to buy a fucking water bottle. It was surprising, but more so annoying, that there was not a single café around here—not even a corner store.

The place is nice; it has a homey feel to it despite being pretty empty. Behind the long counter against the back shelf, there were several cocktail glasses along with bottles of various kinds of liquor. An empty sink with a bowl of uncut limes could also been seen past the register. Looks like business was slow today, then again, it's barely even 4'oclock. There were seats near the counter and then normal tables on the main floor, but Law didn't bother getting comfortable because he was planning on leaving soon anyway.

He smirked. "Aren't _you_ a kid as well?" The girl might have tried to hide her age with makeup, but she is no older than fourteen.

The girl rolled her eyes. Before she said anything else a second, more mature voice called out from the doorway behind the counter, "Nojiko, it's fine. We still have nonalcoholic options." The second voice belonged to an older woman with a scarf over her dark green hair. She wore a blouse over a long pastel skirt. She smiled warmly at Law in kind of a familiar way—like she's experienced these types of scenes before.

"_Tsk_. Wait," the girl paused. "That an_ Orange Town Middle School_ uniform! I almost didn't recognize it because—I don't know—it's summer?" She laughed.

Law applied pressure to his temples. He_ hates _explaining his choice in attire.

"Hey, that's not nice." The woman said frowning, only to smile back to Law. "Hello! My name is Makino. It is true that this is a bar, but I'm not one to refuse a guest. What would you like?"

If he is going to consume something, it might as well be healthy.

"Tea."

Nojiko, who is now slouching on the counter, laughed harder. "It's 93° Fahrenheit out there and you want _tea_."

"Iced tea." Law sighed.

"Of course! Let me run upstairs to boil some water," said the woman known as Makino, "What kind would you like?"

"Green," the boy replied. The woman gave him an 'okay' gesture with her hand before heading upstairs. "Thanks."

"What grade are you in, kid?" the blue haired girl asked regaining the boy's attention.

Law sighed. "I guess, seventh?"

"You _guess?_" she said with amusement.

"You could say I'm a bit of a special case," he said breaking eye contact.

"Yeah, I can see that clearly." Nojiko chuckled pointing at his winter uniform and then hat. "I think I would have heard about you from my sister if you were in her grade."

Law rolled his eyes. _Great. _Just what he needs—people recognizing him around here.

With nothing else to say, the girl grabbed a broom from the back closet and swept the floor near the entrance

The student, now slightly bored, gazed at the dead skin on his palms while he quietly mumbled the names of the bones in the human hand. _Tuberosity, distal phalanx, middle phalanx, proximal phalanx, sesamoid bone, hook of hamate…_

"Back!" The dark haired woman returned happily with a pot of tea with a glass of ice.

Law looked up and nodded to let her know she was acknowledged.

"Would this be all?"

"Oh, uh...Makino-ya?" the student said trying to hide his embarrassment. "Can I _also _order a glass of chocolate milk…to go?"

She smiled, "Certainly! Nojiko can you ring him up for me?"

The Nojiko signaled him over to the register while Makino went to find two plastic cups.

"That will be $4.25 in total."

Law grabbed the debit card from the wallet and handed it to her.

"Uh, that's not going to fly," she groaned. "I'm familiar with these scenes, kid." She looked down to read the name of the cardholder and sighed. "Guess I'll have to find out who this 'Trafalgar D. Water Law' is and give him back his card…"

"It's mine." Law said sighing. He already took out his ID to hand to the girl.

She rolled her eyes and grabbed the second card to compare. The blue haired girl went pale. Law shrugged; she could indeed confirm that he is rightful owner of both cards.

"What the…?" she bit her lip. She looked down at his ID again and laughed. "Law… I'm sorry, I blame my sister. But still, I thought you were 11—maybe 12 at the oldest."

"Yeah." He scratched his head. "I _did_ say I was a bit of a special case."

"Though, it doesn't change the fact that you are still too young to be a_ real_ customer."

"But, aren't you also a little young to be _working _here, Nojiko-ya?" He smirked.

"Touché." She reached down to grab something from underneath the counter—a half-shriveled tangerine— only to look back up and force a chuckle. "Life's a bitch, ain't it?"

**x_x_x**

Okay, so it hasn't been 15 minutes; it was more like twenty—no, 45 minutes. Whoops.

But it didn't matter, the kid was asleep right where Law left him, under the giant oak tree in the back of the park. The other kids from earlier, including that one floral dressed girl, were still playing with the equipment, but they looked tired and ready to leave. Law slumped down against the rough bark of the tree. It really was a peaceful day. He took out a precalc textbook, the highest math level the damn middle school library contains, to use as a makeshift table for the drinks.

"Straw Hat-ya."

No response. Figures. He took a sip from his own drink. The ice has already melted, diluting the tea. It wasn't bad though, seems like Makino purposely oversteeped it in case this happened.

Law honestly didn't know ghosts could sleep, but wasn't surprised in the slightest. Now that he thinks about it, the boy's black hair actually blows with the breeze. He reached down to shove him a little—to wake him up before the milk spoiled in the heat—only to pass through him, tapping the dirt underneath the kid. Law frowned. It's a little unnerving how_ real_ ghosts seem to be at times.

"Hey, I'm back," he said again. "I'm glad I didn't bother ordering you a hamburger. It would have—"

"_FOOD?_"

The straw hat kid shot up, beaming. Law flinched while immediately throwing his hands downwards to hold both plastic cups in place—only to remember that it didn't matter. The cups wouldn't have fallen over. He felt like an idiot.

Law shook his head. "Seriously? That's what woke you up."

The boy ran around Law and the tree, trying to find his lunch only to stop back near the student. "Torao?"

Law gestured towards the chocolate milk while taking a sip of his own tea.

"_Tsk,_ stingy," he said before sitting down against the bark next to the student. "Torao... I can't pick it up."

"No shit."

"But Torao," he whined. "How am I supposed to drink it?"

"Who knows? You _said _you could drink it just fine." Law smirked. "Figure it out."

The boy frowned, but he didn't give up. First, he tried picking it up again only to go right through the cup. Second attempt, he tried poking at the surface only to either slide right across or go through it like air—not even breaking the milk's surface tension.

Law snickered at his efforts. It was so worth the $1.75.

The boy, now desperate, kneeled down to lap the milk like a cat only for the same results.

He is now laying down face first through the plastic cup of chocolate milk.

"So _Ghost-ya_, how is your drink?" Law asked mockingly, grinning before taking an audible gulp of his own drink.

The boy rolled to his head to the side to stare at Law. "It's not fair! I can smell it, and it feels a little cold," he cried. "But, that's it! I can't taste it all!" The student laughed in response figuring this would happen. "It's like those dumb vanilla scented candles that smell like ice cream, but then they taste like crap." The boy stuck out his tongue out in disgust.

"Of course, you know what candle wax tastes like," Law stated sarcastically, "Did you eat glue as well?"

"_No!_—maybe… But…" The boy sighed, turning his face back to the ground. "I'm the ghost between the two of us… Aren't I, Torao?"

"Oh, what gave that away?" Law chuckled.

The boy pointed at the cup of chocolate milk that is literally halfway in his face. He sat up Indian style. "I guess you'll just have to drink it _for_ me."

The student stared at him and blinked. "Fuck that."

"But I'll _starve! _I've already missed…" He started counting on his fingers. "30 meals! _THIRDY!"_

"What the hell does that even mean?"

"Today is my…" he said counting on his fingers again to double check, "Sixth day at this park."

Law looked visibly surprised. The kid _actually_ revealed vital information. He's been dead for 6 days already. _Wait_…

"That's five meals a day, idiot."

"Torao! You have to eat for me! I can't go on like this." He dramatically fell to the ground and lifted his hand shakily towards Law.

"Why should I?" Law barked. "_No!_"

"But then what about my chocolate milk?" he whined, gesturing both hands at the cup of still full milk.

"There's a fucking trashcan over there," Law said, pointing across the park. "I'll deal with it later."

"That's a waste of sweet, delicious _chocolate_ milk!" The kid rolled over to his back. "How do you expect to grow without _milk_?"

Law's eye twitched. "_That's not how milk works!_ You need to have a healthy, balanced diet along with a decent amount of exercise. Besides, chocolate milk is gross anyway. Too sweet."

"So. It still helps kids grow?"

"Yes, but—" He saw the boy immediately flash a shit-eating grin. "_Goddamn it_."

"Hey Torao, I want to show you something!" Law raised an eyebrow. "Look up!"

High up in the branches about two stories above was a medium, cylinder-shaped treehouse. It didn't seem that old from the looks of it, but the treehouse obviously wasn't new either considering it's been patched up here and there. Even so, it looked surprisingly sturdy overall. The only problem was getting up. The lowest branches were about nine or ten feet away, and the rope ladder was completely shredded and tangled within the upper branches.

"What's so great about an abandoned—"

"Come on!" the boy was already halfway up the tree. "I want to show you something awesome!"

"Hey, Straw Hat-ya…I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?" he said looking down.

Law bit down on his lip. "I can't do it."

"Do what?"

"Climb."

"_What?_ Torao is scared of heights?"

"No! I just… I can't _physically_ climb that." He forcefully threw off his jacket, revealing his pale, scrawny arms. "Straw Hat-ya, do you really think _this_ body can handle anything like that?"

The boy jumped off to inspect the student's rather boney arms and then straight up just laughed. "Wow Torao, you are so _weak!_"

Law furrowed his brows feeling flustered. A ghost—a being that no longer gets a second chance at life nor an opportunity to change—is howling from laughter because of _him_. Fuck that; challenge accepted. He sat back down only to chug the entire cup of—now lukewarm—milk in one sitting.

"Not for long."

The straw hat boy grinned.

**A/N: **

**Next chapter is actually finished as well and will conclude Part One. Hooray! I'll upload it in the next couple of days.**

**But yeah, did anyone else notice that Law didn't really seem to grow much in size between ages 10-13? (Then again compared to the height of the Donquixote siblings, that isn't saying much.) Still, I ended up developing this story with that in mind.**

**New to this whole writing thing, but it's surprisingly enjoyable so far. Though I feel like every time I go and edit one thing, I create like 50 more awkward wording/grammar mistakes in the process. Ahh well. ¯\\_(****ツ)_/¯**


	2. In Circles

**Part One Continued**

**Chapter 2: In Circles**

**Thursday—21 August, 2014 **

"Are you sure you should be standing up?"

Law peeked over his shoulder from the wall of the train. Lamie was sitting in her usual spot on the yellow and black taped stairs. She was eyeing him from her—now closed—3DS.

"For the eighth time, I'm fine."

"But Law... you threw up so much last night," she said. "It's been awhile… Me and mom were worried, you know?" Lamie slipped down a step, wrapping her arms around her knees. "I thought you hated milk."

"I do." He grimaced. Turned out yesterday's motivational stunt backfired, but Law learned an important lesson: chugging dairy when your stomach is not adjusted to lactose is a terrible idea. He never wants to drink milk again—especially chocolate.

"But really, why are you standing? It's weird," she said, now resting her chin on her knees.

"Why not?" he replied back indifferently, wobbling a bit.

"Because it's _you_," she stated bluntly, pointing at the student who is now gripping hard onto the plastic covered northbound map on the wall. So, maybe his balance needed a _little_ work. "Oh yeah, have you started gym yet?"

"Yeah," Law said lying through his teeth. He may have 'misplaced' his gym uniform under his mattress.

"_Hmmm... _Then we should go on an adventure over winter break! You should be able to now, right?" Lamie hummed. "We could try skiing! I heard the Drum Kingdom in Canada is beautiful. We could go during their winter cherry blossom festival!"

"I guess I should continue standing then?" He smirked, swaying a little more.

"Well, sledding works too," she said covering her mouth, trying hold back a chuckle. "But, it's a promise, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," he said. "It's a promise."

Lamie cheerfully hopped down from her spot. She struck a dramatic pose in the middle of the aisle way. "If we are going to do this, then I guess I should practice _too~_"

"We look retarded," Law groaned. Lamie just laughed though, finding the situation hilarious. Well, at least one of them is having fun.

They 'train surfed' the rest of the way to his sister's school like dorks.

**x_x_x**

The rest of the day went by without a hitch. Surprisingly, Chopper ditched seventh period early. One of his friends just got back from culinary camp and had issues with constant nosebleeds or something. Other than that, apparently cafeteria food is going to be amazing from now on. Law doubts it, but as long as it's not shit like hamburgers or pizza every other day then he won't complain. And, don't forget about sandwiches; they are the actual worst. He blames Kureha's force feeding methods for his irrational hatred of yeast. Hospital rolls are fucking nasty.

Oh, _and_ pickled plums— those suck too. The witch always keeps those around in that damn jar. Law shuttered.

If anything, maybe he can request menu options through the pink hatted student. Something simple like grilled fish and rice every day doesn't sound bad at all.

_-Foosha Village, Foosha Village! Now arriving at Foosha Village!-_

Looks like Law's afternoon with the ghost kid has started once again.

He stepped down from the train and tagged off his pass. Law recognized the stop easily this time around after learning this is the area known for windmills. How he missed that yesterday, who knows? There certainly aren't many places in East Blue that have windmills placed all around the station other than here.

Law waited near the benches letting people leave. He was going to do something completely unlike him— jog. Yes, the student who has been ditching gym classes— one of the sole reasons he was even going to a_ grade_ school— was planning to go for a casual jog. Before stepping away from the bench, he took off his jacket and wrapped it around his waist.

In the end, he made it to about two and a half blocks before quitting. He put back on his jacket despite the heat and walked the rest of the way to the park. He didn't feel great, but he didn't feel bad either. He was content with his efforts.

"Torao!"

The straw hat boy was sitting on the top of the slide 'playing' with a couple of kids.

"Yo, Straw Hat-ya!" He waved.

The assumed youngest of the group of kids stopped to whisper something to his friends. They looked at each other before the oldest looking one spoke up. "You are that weirdo from yesterday… What the frick is your problem?"

Law shot a cold glare at the kids, gritting his teeth. It's useless and honestly a huge waste of time to try explaining to anyone about ghosts, let alone a group of kids. Might as well take the intimidation route; it works well at the hospital.

"Don't you know it's straight up creepy to talk to yourself?" Another kid spoke.

"_Shhh… He's not going to like that!_" the youngest loudly 'whispered'.

"But, it's true!" the other spoke up, "He scared my sister!"

Law clinched his fists tightly before walking past them to the more forest-y side of the park under the big oak tree. He knows he looks crazy; no need to point it out. As law leaned against the trunk of the tree, he stared back towards the playground and sighed. Honestly, this all could have been avoided; He really needs to stop calling out to ghosts like that. Within the next minute or two, he found himself already sitting down with his head buried into an old anatomy book from his home.

"Torao, they think you're weird." The boy chuckled, pointing at Law.

Oh, that's right. Law almost forgot about him. "And whose fault is that, _Ghost_-ya?" he said peaking up from his book.

"Whatcha doing?" the boy questioned.

"Reading."

"_Mm. _Why?" The boy sat closer to Law for a better look. "Looks boring. There aren't even pictures!"

"That is a picture, Straw Hat-ya," he said. "It's a human rib cage." Law turned the page to a somewhat colored, larger version of the same rib cage. "Here, now it's in color. See?"

"Why is it two different colors?"

"The color closer to the sternum—that middle bone plate-" Law looked up only to see the boy more interested in picking his nose. Law closed the book sighing. "Never mind."

"You suck at telling stories." The boy groaned, falling on his back. "I'm bored. You should read a _real_ story. One about a great adventure… like _pirates!_"

"Well, no shit. It's not a story; it's anatomy," he stated. "I'd rather learn or review something than waste time on fiction." Law brushed his hand against the beveled lettering on the book's cover. "I may have said I would help you, Straw hat-ya, but that didn't mean I would sit around twiddling my thumbs wasting my time."

"So, what are you studying for anyway?" The boy said scooting closer, pushing off from the tree with his feet. "That book doesn't seem fun at all."

"It doesn't matter if the book is fun or not. I'm studying to become a doctor," Law stated matter-of-factly.

"Hmmm… So you are reading these books to save people?" he asked with wide eyes filled with excitement.

_'I'm sure you will protect her. You are her big brother after all.' _

What is that taste in his mouth? Why does it taste salty…no, metallic. Oh, that's right. How could he forget? Blood. Law may have bit down the inside of his mouth just a little bit too hard. He nibbled on the now slightly torn skin on his inner cheek, keeping his mind in the present. It was probably going to swell soon, and he'll regret it tomorrow. But, Law is not going to care now.

"Probably…?" Law shrugged causing the boy the frown. "Both of my parents are doctors. It is natural that I'll become one too."

"Then it's not your dream? That's lame." The boy pouted with slight disappointment.

"Well, I don't know," Law said sighing. "It's been my only goal practically my whole life." He stared straight ahead towards the twin swings of the now empty park. "Well actually, it's not exactly that. I just didn't have other options. It was the only way I could become someone _she_ could rely on." He glanced down at his hands clenching them on sight. "I mentioned her before, right? Lamie? Well because of genetics, I grew up in fear thinking she-"

Law glimpsed over only to see the kid—now turned away—sleeping. "_Hey!_" he barked throwing the book at him, "The hell, Straw Hat-ya!"

Of course, the book went right through him as expected, but man, he almost opened up to a _ghost_. It should have been the other way around. Law sighed checking his phone for the time— 4:45pm, 86°F, no new messages.

Glancing over to the unconscious boy who was happily passed out against the base of the tree, Law decided now was a good time to see how far he can scale the large trunk. Besides, that anatomy book from earlier was old and only in his bag for review.

With the phone still in Law's hand, he unlocked the screen to quickly look up 'how to stretch' in Google Images. If Law is going to make a fool out of himself, he might as well do it correctly. Besides, it looks easy enough. He found himself going through the list from neck stretches to laying down with his legs in the air. Law was honestly very relieved he ended up scaring those kids away. Christ, this is embarrassing; he can barely stretch to his ankles.

With the 'warm ups' out of the way, Law was ready to make his first attempt up the tree. He cracked his knuckles and rolled up his sleeves. Maybe he'll make it on the first shot. It's not like Law has failed before— he just never bothered to try.

Law tightened his hands around the bark above his head. Easy enough. Taking a deep breath, he connected his left foot flat against the tree, and then pushed upwards with all of his might.

Nothing. He massaged his temples thinking of a better approach. Oh, he could try _that._

That being take two: the ol' jump start approach. He stretched out his arms upwards—as far as he can reach— and well, took off with a hop.

He fell back to the ground almost immediately after.

_Fuck._ Well, it wasn't going to be that easy, but still, he was hoping to climb up _at least_ a meter on his own.

Law sighed, rolling his shoulders back. He wasn't ready to be discouraged yet. After all, he was able handle all the stretches just fine, well, the ones that didn't involve too much flexibility anyway. He took out his phone once more to google 'basic exercises.'

Okay, so 20 minutes of miniscule actions didn't seem that hard. Setting the phone timer to two minutes, he started off with jumping jacks.

He lasted 45 seconds. Well, maybe his stamina isn't that great. With the test jog earlier, Law expected that. It's only the first day. Next, he tried moving on to push ups, except he was stuck in place hovering over the ground until he finally fell. Feeling the heat rushing to his cheeks, he figured modified pushups would work too. Seriously, thank god no one is around. Law managed a set of ten instead of the recommended fifteen.

Law eventually struggled through squats, a poor attempt at a plank, crunches, wall sits against the wide trunk, and so on. Around 10 minutes in, he remembered about that ghost. Except, he was no longer sleeping against the trunk. Law inwardly cringed.

After a minute of heavy breathing from the exercises, he hesitantly looked upwards making eye contact with the ghost who was looking back at him with a huge shit-eating smile. The boy was hanging upside down from a branch around the treehouse's halfway point.

Law immediately flashed him the bird while pulling his fuzzy, white hat down his sweaty forehead to hide his face. "Say something if you are awake!"

"But _Toraoo!_" he said pouting. "You would have stopped if I said anything!"

It's true. He would. But, the kid didn't need to know that. "_Stop calling me that!_"

_Guurrggleee…_

"Torao…" the boy said slowly. Law clenched his stomach hoping the brat didn't hear. "Are you…_ hungry_?"

_Fuck. _He looked up wearily making contact to the boy who is not only grinning like an idiot but is now drooling. "What does it matter to you, _Ghost_-ya?" Law barked pointing straight at the boy. He just blinked, causing Law to hiss in exasperation. "You can't even eat!"

"But-"

"No! Fuck off!" He shouted grabbing his backpack off the ground, turning around to hide his embarrassment. He almost finished the first set of exercises in peace. "I'm leaving."

"_Torao!_ It's been 7 days since I've eaten. SEVEN! That's _thirty-fi_-"

So maybe that was a little harsh—straight up walking away without looking back. But, it was too late to apologize; Law was already at the station. He made a mental note to buy a drink before trying to do the whole 'training' thing again.

_Guurgleee…gurgle_

Law groaned, and maybe grab a snack as well. He wanted to eat better anyway.

_**_To: Lamie_**_

_**(8/21/2014 6:27pm)**__ 'Could you start heating up some leftovers?'_

_**_From: Lamie_ **_

_**(8/21/2014 6:27pm)**__ 'Who are you and what did you do to my brother? o.O' _

_**_To: Lamie_ **_

_**(8/21/2014 6:27pm) **__'-_-'_

_**(8/21/2014 6:28pm)**__ 'Anything is fine.'_

_**_From: Lamie_ **_

_**(8/21/2014 6:30pm)**__ 'Last night's chicken parmigiana it is!'_

**x_x_x**

**Friday—22 August, 2014 **

Law sighed. Apparently, a generic science lecture has started at some point, and Law should honestly just leave because he is not required to stay. Instead, he slumped over his already packed backpack on the furthest back lab table. Law's felt like absolute crap since this morning. Every muscle in his thighs and shoulders are completely sore. He probably should have stretched again last night. It is sixth period now; lunch came and went over an hour ago. Law was honestly a little disappointed the food was around the same mediocre quality. Then again, apparently Chopper's friend was out of commission earlier because of yet another nosebleed crisis. The thought of walking the down the staircase for the third time today just made Law want to stay in his current seat for the rest of the day.

Law actually considered ditching the ghost kid after class today to go sleep in hopes of speeding up his muscle's recovery, but he's not one to leave things haphazardly done. The kid might just be a ghost, but he is probably isn't going anywhere without his help. Even if this kid and all the other past ghosts are just a figment of his imagination, it honestly makes Law feel a little special—like he is useful for something. Besides, Law could just study at the base of the tree anyway. Although, there is no chance in hell he will be doing anymore 'training' today or maybe even the rest of the week. Again Law sighed, slouching further down the table.

"That is like the fifth time you've sighed in the last two minutes." He heard a feminine voice to his left. "You are almost worse than my brother. That is saying a lot."

Law rolled his head to the side blankly staring at the pouting pink-haired girl in long pigtails. How she wasn't breaking the dress code with that frilly crown broach clipped onto her uniform's tie along with all the makeup and other various accessories was a good question. But, Law really didn't care in the slightest. He was more annoyed that the girl wasn't paying attention to her class considering she was, wait… painting an alphabet on a wooden board? The hell? He sighed once more on sight.

The girl faced him once more after wiping down the paintbrush. "It's an Ouija board." Law glanced back up reluctantly making eye contact. "It's going to let me talk to the afterworld," she said proudly with a grin.

He just blinked in response. Right in front of him was the type who is _actually_ crazy.

"Man, you serious types are no fun." She pouted dramatically. "Despite what people think, there are plenty of sources saying the afterworld is real."

"True, but there is even more sources that state otherwise. I guess it's up to interpretation." Her mascara heavy eyes widened a little. "Personally, it's just the whole afterworld part that seems a bit sketchy. Ignoring conspiracy theorists, there is close to zero proof on that."

"Hmmm. You aren't so bad after all, Trafalgar Law. That is your name, right? I've heard the rumors about you." She hummed. "My name is Perona. There is someone I have to talk to no matter what."

Law glanced back down towards the board noticing the word 'Goodbye' outlined on the bottom. "Was it recent, Perona-ya," he asked calmly. "This person's death?"

"Ehh, not really," she stated. "It was three years ago." Perona grinned at the sudden turn in conversation. "My big brother has been through a lot, you see. One night, his best friend passed away. She was the one who originally set him on his path to pursue his dream. There was no doubt that he would succeed eventually, but…"

"'Was?' That brother of yours should be fine by now right?" Law kept on eying the not-yet-painted outlines on the board. There was a sun on the left and a moon on the right. "It's been three years, I would feel sorry for the girl if she were still lingering around."

"That's not-"

Law interrupted noticing her frown, "Older brothers shouldn't make their siblings worry."

"I'm not worried. Just interested is all," she said with a soft smile. "Don't you know? History has a knack for repeating itself, like it's _fate_ or something. Last year his 'captain'—well, the leader of this silly adventure club they had going on—got into… an accident." Perona sighed fiddling with her bangs. "Mm, I am probably saying too much, my bad. But anyway, I want to contact Kuina, the girl I mentioned. You should help me!"

"I'll pass, Perona-ya. I think you have it handled just fine," Law said sarcastically, causing her to pout again. "I'd rather not be sent on a wild goose chase."

"Ehh, that's no fun. Fine then, suit yourself." She rolled her eyes picking up her paintbrush again. "Oh, Law. If you kill anymore bunnies, I want their paws."

"I didn't fucking _kill _that rabbit!" he hissed slamming his fist on the table, causing the rest of the class to turn back to them.

**x_x_x**

Law managed to make his way to the library. It may have taken him at least three times as long to climb down those stairs, but he somehow made it back to the ground level before the sixth period ended.

"Looking for something in particular, Law?"

Law didn't even notice Robin behind him, nor did he realize that he was still crouched down staring at the exposed back wall behind the lower shelf of the bookcase for the last 15 minutes.

"Trafalgar?" the teacher assistant spoke one more.

Startled, he looked up towards her, "Oh sorry, I spaced out, Nico-ya."

She chuckled. "Didn't take you as someone who enjoyed children's books."

Law held his gaze towards her looking slightly perplexed until he realized what section he was browsing. Why the hell was he here? "Uh, I-… My sister couldn't find something at the book store, so I…" He stuttered a bit trying to find the right words for his bullshit excuse. Law didn't have to fumble around for too long because through the wall behind the shelf, the next song of the piano started. Oh yeah, that's right. He wanted to figure out what room the music was coming from. "Ah, never mind… I remember now. The piano."

"Piano?" Robin raised an eyebrow.

"Through the wall," Law said, a little confused. "It's the loudest from this point." He pointed warily towards the vent in the wall.

"Is that so?" She knelt down for a better look. "Odd, the music room is closer to the entrance."

"Yeah, Tony-ya mentioned that." He noticed Robin turning her ear closer to the vent, but her expression of uncertainty never changed. Law lightly nibbled the swollen sore in his inner cheek from yesterday. "You don't hear it?"

After a minute, she furrowed her brows slightly and said, "Hear what?"

"The... never mind. It's nothing, Nico-ya." Law stopped as soon as he realized Robin had no clue what he was talking about. Besides, it looks like she had another reason for coming over here anyway. After poking around the various story books, the teacher assistant finally reached for something under the bookshelf.

"Oh, found it. This book, _the Eight Great Seas,_ is actually one of my favorites. I thought I saw it checked into the system, but I was never able to find it until now," Robin said digging the book out from underneath the shelf. She frowned at the dusty, old cover. "A boy who was practically a little brother to me loved this one."

Law took out a screen cleaning cloth from his inner jacket pocket and handed it to her. "Here use this."

Robin smiled warmly, accepting the gesture. "He wasn't much of a reader," she said, "But his caretaker managed to at least get him to sit through books with lots of pictures." Robin carefully brushed off the old cover with the cloth. She took her time folding the cloth neatly and placed it on top of the book. Chuckling, she handed both to the boy. "It's a classic. You—I mean your sister might like it as well."

"Thanks?" he grumbled, lowering his gaze to his feet. Nevertheless, he did take the book and stored it away in his bag.

"Ah, it's just that you slightly remind me of him is all," she said smiling warmly. "Both of you have this noticeable drive to accomplish something big." Before standing up, she ruffled the boy's hat on his head.

Law cringed at her touch. What drive is she talking about? Becoming a doctor? Of course, Law is going to be a doctor; anything else would be wasting his efforts. Since when is aiming towards a stable life something so noble and 'big'?

However by the time Law thought of a counter response, she was gone.

**x_x_x**

Law is not going to lie. He was a little more than curious to see the ghost kid's reaction to the story book in his bag. Maybe, just maybe, he would read the book together with the boy. If Law is lucky, maybe it would put the boy a sleep. Okay, so that's the lie. He honestly was curious if the visuals of the pirates would trigger any memories. After all, that was the one type of book he was curious about yesterday. It all makes sense in Law's mind anyway.

But by the time Law arrived at the park, the boy once again was nowhere to be seen.

"Straw Hat-ya?" he said impatiently.

Fewer kids were at the park. Different ones from yesterday. He really didn't want to search around like on Wednesday again. His legs fucking hurt.

Law groaned as he stood under the treehouse. He fell from above last time, so he has to be up there right? "Straw Hat-ya, school ended."

No response.

"I brought food," he lied for at least the third time today.

God, when did he start lying so much? Lamie would be pissed.

A head poked out from the bottom entrance. Something was off however. The boy's usual smile was gone, and his eyes were red.

"Straw Hat-ya?" Law flinched dropping his bag to the ground. Did he actually hurt his feelings yesterday? Sure, he was pretty irritated and 'grumpy' according to Lamie, but he never meant to-

"Y-you are talking to me…?"

"What?" Law replied slightly baffled.

The boy bit his lower lip. "Why aren't you ignoring me like the others?"

"Straw Hat-ya?"

"Is this all one big joke or something?" he shouted angrily, "Well, it's not funny! There is nothing worse than being alone! I don't want to be _alone_ anymore!"

"What the hell!" Law was pretty offended at this point. He went out of his way to be here. "Like I said earlier this week, I have fucking class! I can't stay with you 24/7! Look, I'm sorry I ran off yesterday, but— _THIS _—isn't funny." After taking a deep breath, Law knelt down to take Robin's book out of his backpack. "Look," he shouted. "I even brought a goddamn picture book! You like these sorts of things right? Pirates, adventures, and whatnot?"

To Law's surprise, the straw hat kid simply jumped down at least ten feet from the treehouse. After catching his balance, the boy stood up on his toes (but was still at least a foot shorter than the student) and intensely stared into Law's eyes.

"So, you are a good guy after all!" The boy relaxed, grinning.

Seriously? But, Law only stared at the kid blankly, still baffled. Before Law felt like he should voice his irritations, the kid continued.

"Let's be friends!" he said, adjusting his straw hat securely on his head. The boy beamed intensely at Law. "You said you had food right? You have to be a great guy!"

Law sighed. He almost regrets lying about bringing food. Emphasis on almost. If it wasn't for this little attention stunt, maybe he would feel worse.

"Oh yeah," he said sitting down in anticipation over the nonexistent meal. "Who are you anyway?"

"Trafalga…" Law stopped. "Wait, _what?_"

"Toeralfgah? That's lame," the boy stated flat out. "Torao sounds better. After all, '_Rao_' sounds like a noise a tiger would make! And, tigers are tough_ and_ cool! I wouldn't want an uncool friend."

"Wait, hold on, Straw Hat-ya," Law said. At least he knows where his bizarre nickname came from, but what the hell. "Why the introductions?"

"How else am I going to learn more about a new friend?" he laughed.

"Huh?"

"We are friends now. Why is that so hard to understand?" the boy said frowning. "Anyway I'm starved. I almost about to miss my fourth meal of the day."

"Uh. Oh, your thirty-ninth meal since becoming a ghost," Law said shaking his head. "_However_ would I forget that?"

"You _missed_ THIRTY-NINE meals?" The boy stood up in panic. "Torao! You have to eat; you are going to die at this rate!" The boy ran around frantically. "Oh wait," he paused. "You are a ghost? Ehh? That's so cool! Torao, you are awesome!"

Law groaned, ignoring his rant in attempt to figure out what the fuck is going on here. He is obviously not understanding something here. "So, how many meals have you missed?"

"Four. Five at this rate! I can't seem to leave this damn park!" The boy grumbled. "I get all tired

Oh, no.

"I meant how many meals did you 'miss' total… I mean how many days have you been here?"

"Days? What are you talking about?" The boy looked at him perplexed.

No.

He pointed directly under the treehouse. "I woke up here earlier this morning."

No, no, _no_.

Wait, okay. Never mind. So, that's what this is about. "You probably should stop jumping out of that tree…" Law sighed in relief. "I think you hit your head or something." He looks at the boy's feet that is not even making a dent on the grass below. "Err, somehow at least… Come on, can't you remember anything about that damn glass of chocolate milk?"

"_Chocolate_ milk? You have-" the boy said excitedly only to stop midsentence. "_Wait_, before that! Torao! You have to listen. There is something I have to do! I need to become a… uh… become a what?"

Except it wasn't about that at all. Of course, he didn't hit his head at some point during the night. Fuck, Law is an idiot. That kid is a ghost, goddamn it. Something like a simple fall from a tree wouldn't hurt him. He watched the boy jump down twice so far, and he was fine.

As he expected, next week's Friday was the same, and so was the one after. There has to be a reason for all of this, right? Even if this kid can't remember, he is clinging on to something from his past—that thing he '_needs'_ to do. He couldn't have just been dumped here like a kitten. He has to be capable of remembering something about it. Anything. Even if _he_ forgets, Law won't. And if everything goes well, this kid will no longer be trapped here. He will be free. Saved. Within this time, maybe Law will finally become stronger—both mentally and physically. Someone whom _she_ can depend on: a true older brother. It's a win-win situation.

So, how long _has_ this boy been here?

How long will Law be here?

**x_x_x**

**PART ONE END**

**A/N: **

**This is a five part story by the way. Spring break just started, so I should be able to work on Part Two a lot this week. Hopefully it'll be enough of a head start to keep this close to weekly at best.  
**

**Oh, after finishing the main overarcing outlines, I heard Misguided Ghosts - Paramore by chance. It suits this story pretty well in more ways than one. So yeah, that's where the main title came from.  
**


	3. Setting Sail

**Part Two**

**Chapter 3: Setting Sail**

**Wednesday—10 September, 2014**

So, Law might have been a just little late for lunch. The gore from small game dissections never bothered him much, but it does others. A lot. Not only did Law have to wait for a time in the lab room to be empty, he had to deal with a little more cleanup than normal because of a fresh, non-preservative covered toad he caught himself—_without_ Lamie's help.

He figures the cafeteria might be closed for lunch by now which is a little disappointing because he knew the food would have been great today. It honestly has been every day since the Kamabakka took over the kitchen at the end of last month. However, today was Wednesday—one of Blackleg Sanji's trial days to become a permanent sous chef. In the end, Chopper kept his word. Sanji is actually a pretty good cook when he has access to the kitchen—especially with European styled dishes. Although Law finds it weird that a twelve-year-old has the chance to be in charge of anything, he is obviously both well-traveled and trained. Sanji tends to have some over violent quirks, but on the other hand, the other chefs have a tendency to be a bit _overbearing_ to say the least. They all mean well. It's just Law prefers Sanji to be around since the 'Okama' chefs are a bit too loud and rowdy for his liking.

Nevertheless, Law made it to down to the cafeteria only to be greeted by a hot, but not scalding, creamy bowl of stew slamming into his chest only to be followed by loud, obnoxious laughter. The howling came from a girl who Law never talked to before—let alone knew her name. She had pink haired girl similar to Perona, but she wore a green furażerka. Apparently, Law's uniform being ruined was fucking hilarious. Goddamn it. It's even soaking into his pants.

He watched as two heads slowly turned around from their table to stare horrified at the soaking wet student. One was obviously Chopper and the other was a rather chubby, long-nosed kid with curly black hair. They were sitting across from the pink haired girl.

"Trafalgar!" A small voice squeaked from the pink hatted student.

"Ehh, _Trafalgar?_ You mean that one kid who…" the long-nose kid visibly panicked, stuffing his face with the rest of his meal. He looked like he was preparing to leave. "Ahh! My 'I-have-to-be-anywhere-but-here' disease is acting up. I'll go excuse myself to the infirmary..."

"_Hey!_" The blond, swirly eyebrowed chef swore under his breath as he walked out of the kitchen, hands filled with plates of various side dishes. He put the dishes down, most of them in front of the pink haired girl, before shoving his foot into the long nosed kid's gut, knocking him back down into his seat. "Don't waste food, you dipshit-"

Sanji was interrupted by more roaring laughter from the pink haired girl. Considering whom the laughter was from, he didn't seem to be upset in the slightest.

"I never seen anything like that," she said, picking up a slice of flatbread from one of the newly presented plates. "That bowl of stew... oh man. It flew! The bowl of soup catapulted off that fork… and then it _hit _him." She snorted, trying to hold back her laughter to eat and chat. "It actually fucking hit that kid!"

The long nose kid clutched his probably soon-to-be bruised stomach, "If you didn't try stealing my chowder, none of this would-"

"Usopp! Your aim is so amazing!" Chopper beamed. "How do you do it?"

The long nose kid perked up with pride. "Well of course! I am the great sniper, Usopp! No foe can sneak up on us with me around. My aim can't be anything less than perfect because one day I'll become the greatest," he paused, slouching down. "…fisherman of the seas."

"Hey, this is a battle between the two of us. Don't go off getting all depressed," the girl barked, finishing off the second dish of smoked sausages. "I'll start picking off of your side of the table again if you keep on moping."

"Law, wait there," Sanji said tossing him a few napkins from his apron after getting his attention. "Your meal is wrapped up in the fridge. I'll reheat it for you."

As the chef walked away grumbling about wasted food, Law reluctantly removed his soaked jacket and sat next to Chopper.

"C-Chopper..." the long nose kid said, gesturing at the new comer with a link of sausage, "W-why is…?"

"Oh, Trafalgar? He's nice!" Chopper grinned causing both the long nose kid and the girl to visibly twitch in disbelief. "We have been _friends_ for years~"

"Years? Seriously, _how?_" the girl said slightly bewildered, stacking the empty plates. Law honestly wondered the same, but didn't say anything. He figured they were acquaintances at best. "Doesn't seem like the type that would leave his house long enough for any conversation."

"We are both going to be doctors," Chopper stated. "Ah, Trafalgar, this is Usopp." He nudged the long nose kid in the shoulder. "He's in sixth grade like me. And the girl is-"

"Jewelry Bonney, seventh grade," she said with a smirk. "Then again, I only assumed that from his preference of winter clothing in the summer." Bonney leaned in forward, closer to Law. "Why though? Insecurities? You look normal to me. If anything, you are on the small side, but that's nothing a little food can't handle."

Law rolled his eyes and then looked down at his arms. He wants to believe he is starting to look more normal. "It's cold."

"No shit, it's cold," Sanji said, snapping Law out of his thoughts. He placed a bowl of some sort of stew with prawns over rice in front of Law. "He wasted an entire bowl of my seafood etouffee on your uniform," he said, glaring at Usopp. "I don't cook for you, shithead, just for you to waste ingredients."

"Thanks, Blackleg-ya," Law said before taking a bite. "It's good."

"Of course it is. I made it. Just don't leave any food behind this time, or I'll beat it into you," Sanji said with a smirk.

"Cook! Is there any food left? Bring it all out!" Bonney grinned, leaning into the palm of her hand.

"Certainly, Miss Bonney!" He swirled around, taking the stack of empty plates back to the kitchen.

"I refuse to lose to you!" She declared loudly to Usopp. "Chopper, who is in the lead now?"

"I supposed to keep track?" the pink hatted student whined. "I thought you guys were just eating like normal."

"This is normal, Tony-ya?" Law reluctantly asked.

"Well, sort of?" Chopper answered with a sigh, looking over to Usopp.

"He is apparently eating for two people," Bonney stated.

"For _two?_" Law raised an eyebrow. Both of them are eating enough for at least twenty each. He soon thought of the ghost kid and his own requests for Law to 'eat for him'. "When did that become a thing?"

"If I don't, then who will?" Usopp began chowing down at a faster pace, beginning to clean off the last of the plates on his side. "I should have been there that night, but I was too scared—too weak," he said, pulling in another dish. "I refuse to be a coward like that again."

"What about fishing? You loved fishing!" Chopper cried. "The junior tournament is coming up soon, and-"

"What's the point?" The long nose kid slammed his fist against the table. "What's the point of aiming for _my _dream, if we all aren't there _together?_"

"Usopp…" Before Chopper had a chance to confront the boy further, Sanji came back with two large bowls of stew.

"Back, _Miss_ Bonney~" Sanji swirled around the pink hair girl, "I was able to prepare a Bouillabaisse with the left over ingredients. I hope it is to your liking."

"Do what you want," Usopp murmured under his breath, clenching his fist tightly around his spoon before digging into the newly presented dish. "…but I'm not leaving Luffy behind again."

**x_x_x**

"Torao!" The straw hat boy hopped off the upper see-saw.

Law acknowledged the greeting with a simple nod before going ahead to drop his bundled up jacket and backpack near the base of the tree. Law turned back to the ghost kid and sighed. Two more days until the boy's memories are once again set back—which Law dubs as a 'reset'. Well, Law is predicting another reset at least. It would be nice if it doesn't happen.

It really was a nice day; not a cloud in the sky. It won't be long until the main rainy season, but at least it's never cold enough for snow. The park was pretty quiet today as well, which is starting to become part of the norm. Law didn't care—the less people the better. And, the weather cooling down soon is a bonus.

"You look different," the boy said squinting his eyes. Law was surprised he even noticed.

"Some idiots ruined my jacket with a bowl of stew." Law said with a shrug, and then looked down at the soon to be crusty jacket. God, how did those two—Bonney and Usopp—manage to eat so much? And then there is Sanji who can somehow keep up with those two for almost an entire hour. It's not natural. At least Chopper seems reasonable for the most part. Naïve, but then again he is only eight-years-old. "I wouldn't be surprised if you actually enjoyed their company. They seem like your type of people."

"Sounds fun!" The boy giggled only to slouch over a moment later. "I wish I could go to school too..."

"You would actually die of boredom," Law commented bluntly.

"But-"

"A second time." Law said, chuckling. "God, I would feel so sorry for whatever teacher got stuck with you."

"_Hey! _What was that?" the boy barked, slamming both feet to the ground. "I could _so_ learn if I wanted to."

"Yeah, yeah." he said, gesturing lazily with his hand. "Get over here, I brought the ending to that _Peter Pan_ series."

Law opened the book on his lap and began flipping through the pages, reading each and every word out loud to the boy. Colorful illustrations and narratives described the ending battle between Peter Pan and Captain Hook.

"Why are pirates never the good guys in these books?" Luffy questioned with a disappointed tone, and then pointed at Captain Hook. "I hate that guy. He is a bad captain. He threw one of his crew into the sea! What an _asshole_."

"They are pirates—criminals," Law stated. "Do you expect them to be heroic or something?"

"Nah, heroes are cool and all, but then they have to listen to others." The boy looked up to Law. "Pirates are free!" he said with a big grin. "They can help people and _then _take all the meat without a care in the world."

"Uh-huh." Law rolled his eyes. "But anyway, what do you want to read next? I took some photos of some different titles."

"Photos? I never seen you bring a camera."

"Never heard of a phone camera? Practically everyone has one of those," he said. Law took out his phone with the ghost watching every stroke to the photo gallery. Oh yeah, he took pictures of today's toad dissection. He slowly glanced down expecting to see a grossed out kid.

"Whoa! Torao, I didn't know you were a chef as well!"

"A _chef._ Wait you really mean this…?" Law dragged his hand down his face. "What would possess you to eat a fucking toad?"

"It's better than just living on insects and snakes," the boy fussed. "Snakes barely have any meat on them!"

Law just stared at him slightly perplexed and then laughed. "It's almost as if you are talking from experience." But then it hit him. Maybe this is why this kid is stuck here. Perhaps, he died from _food _poisoning. "Wait, Straw Hat-ya," he said remembering that there is practically an entire jungle behind this park. "Did you actually live in _that_ forest?"

"I don't know," the boy replied. Well, that's better than a straight up no.

Putting the book down, Law got up to walk to the edge of the forest.

"Ooo, are we going on an adventure?"

"Maybe."

Well, the 'adventure' didn't last long. The greenery is too damn thick, and Law refuses to walk out near those poison ivy trees without at least a jacket. It didn't help that the straw hat boy was getting dizzy from being slightly out-of-bounds.

The boy lazily lean against the tree while Law worked his way through some flashcards.

"Are you going to train again soon?"

"After this set," he said flipping through the cards. "Want to join?"

"I would join even if you didn't ask," the boy grinned.

After finishing the set of flashcards, Law took out his phone for the bookmarked exercise page.

"That phone you have is cool. It's like a robot. It can do anything," the boy said, rolling over to his back. "But the camera is the coolest. I want to take pictures for you to see, too"

Law sighed. "I see this park enough as it is."

"But wouldn't it be awesome?"

"Hmm?"

"Traveling around the world," he said, looking up to the sky through the branches. "…I would want to bring at least ten people with me—one would have to be a musician for entertainment of course—and then we would always be having fun, free to eat whatever and whenever and…"

Law snorted. "Of course you think of food."

"But, no really! I would take pictures of _everything_," he said spreading his arms extra wide for emphasis, "…and then I would be the one telling stories to _you!_"

Law's eyes widened at that declaration. He pulled his hat down just enough to cover his face.

"So," Law said, turning his phone around to camera lens on the back. "You are saying you want to become a photographer?"

"Yeah!"

**x_x_x**

"Back!" It had to be after 7:30pm by now. He may have spent a little too much time running around taking pictures with his phone. He was just excited to see that actual progress was even possible after almost 3 weeks with the ghost kid. A photographer… it suits him. Well, would have suited him at least.

His home is one of many simple townhouses in a cookie cutter neighborhood. Two story, three bedroom. Pretty standard. Goat Town was practically known for pop up neighborhoods like these. Or, Law assumes. There is always some sort of large scale construction going on, and new roads being paved. This area is going to have a massive population bump when it all finishes.

"Law!" He heard footsteps from above running to the balcony of the mezzanine. Lamie leaned over the ledge with a large smile plastered across her face. "Welcome home!"

Law strolled past the living room to the laundry room in the far back. He looked down at his bundled up jacket and stew splattered pants and just smiled. Despite the earlier chaos, today ended up being a good day. Those people at the cafeteria—and even the ghost kid… Maybe making friends wouldn't be so bad after all. He changed into some pajama pants and a yellow sweatshirt, throwing his uniform into the washing machine. God, he hopes it is machine washable.

"What happened to your uniform?" a voice said from behind. Law turned around, knowing it was Lamie. "Oh Jeeze, what even is on that? Are you okay?"

"I think I was the accidental victim of a food fight." Law shrugged and turned back attend to the laundry.

"Oh, that's it?" Lamie laughed, leaning over to grab the box of laundry detergent for Law. "You know, you are late again. Where do you even go after school?"

"The park-"

"Law," she frowned, shoving the detergent into his arms. "You always say that! Even_ I_ don't go to the park that much."

"I'm not lying," he said, scooping out a small amount of detergent powder and sprinkling it over the clothes. After setting the load to wash, Law grabbed his phone of the top of the washing machine and quickly went to his photo gallery. "See? I have proof," he said with smirk.

She burst out in fit of laughter, clutching her sides and all.

"What is that? I can't even…!" Lamie commented, wiping actual tears from her eyes. "You are _terrible_ at taking pictures."

They sat down against the buzzing machine side by side, swiping through the various, blurry photos of the playground and plants around the edge of the forest. The ghost kid was the focus target in the majority of these, but of course, he didn't show up in any of the photos. Not if anything really showed up too well in the photos either. At least, he is not the one with the ambition to be a photographer. Law would never make a single buck off of this crap.

"Wait, scroll back," she said. "I was right! Right there above the finger glob! I see a Giant Stag Beetle on that tree. It's huge! I didn't know those lived around here." Law raised an eyebrow. When did she ever care about insects? "Ah, in Animal Crossing! I just caught one of those in my town."

Law watched Lamie scroll through his gallery, trying to find another angle of that bug. "Do you want to come with me to the park after school tomorrow?" He knows this is probably a bad idea—spending time with Lamie right in front of the ghost kid. He'll understand though. Even if he doesn't and gets upset, there is always next week—after the reset. But, Law doesn't consider that for a second. Instead, maybe he will even tell Lamie everything—what he's been up to lately, ghosts, all of that. For real this time. She might tease Law at first, but she is Lamie. His sister. _She'll_ understand.

"Mm, I _do _want to," she said biting her thumb. "But, I'm busy. Can I come on Saturday instead? I'll ask around for a net!" She stood up, getting ready to head back upstairs.

"Hey, Lamie," he said, fidgeting with the case of his phone. "Apparently there are fireflies at night."

"But curfew…"

"See?" Law pointed the phone at her. "I told you curfew is annoying."

And honestly, curfew never bothered Law besides that one time when Lamie's phone died. However, he is curious what triggers the ghost kid's 'reset'. Maybe Law would find a way to prevent another one from happening if he could just stay there for a couple of hours longer. It's not like his parents ever get home before 8 or 9pm either thanks to the hospital being super understaffed like normal. Thanks, World Government.

"Well," she said leaning against the frame of the door. "I didn't want to tell you this before because I know you won't believe me…"

"Just say it," he said with a sigh.

"Okay, okay." She clutched her arms together. "Apparently there is something…supernatural-"

"Supernatural."

"See, Law?" Lamie put her hands on her hips. "I told you won't believe me!"

"Sorry, continue."

"It's just rumors, but apparently kids are being," she said, looking down to the floor. "…'spirited away.'"

"Of course they are," Law commented flatly, shaking his head. He would be rich if he got a nickel for every 'haunted' examination room rumor he heard at the hospital.

"I'm serious, Law! Kids are actually disappearing!"

"So why aren't the marines looking for them rather than set up some stupid 8'o clock curfew."

"No you don't understand." She sat next to Law's side again. "There is no 'looking' for them."

"So, they are dead?" Law frowned.

They both sat there in silence. Lamie brought her knees to her chest; Law simply waited for her to talk again.

_When do you think people die?_

Law sighed, nudging his sister lightly with his elbow.

"They might be dead. But, I don't know. No one knows."

"That doesn't even make sense."

"Right? People barely remember who they were." She said, looking over to Law's phone. "The only proof they even existed are from old photos and belongings."

"Lamie, like you said, they are just rumors."

"Well, yeah. It's still scary. Like what if I'm losing friends I didn't even know I had?"

"Hmmm… it sounds like one of those horror stories to make sure 'kids don't get into trouble' like your former marine teacher said once before."

"Yeah, I thought so too. I guess that is why curfew is only for kids 15 and under."

Law perked up. "Is that so?"

"Wait…" she turned to grab and shake Law back and forth. "Don't even think about it! What if it's real? I don't want some ghost to take you away!"

Law just laughs. "Relax, I wouldn't do anything to make you worry. Besides it's not even October-"

She let go and sighed, but didn't say another word. Law watched Lamie head over to the living room and flop over on the couch.

"…yet."

**x_x_x**

**Saturday—13 September, 2014 **

"Whoa." Lamie took off and ended up just standing in place on the sidewalk in front of the park in awe. Law eventually caught up and embraced for what is to come. Today only small children with their caretakers were around, which is normal for weekends. It's not like every day they will be at the park alone. "This place looks much better in person!"

Yeah, it does. It's a nice place. Law's camera skills will never do it justice. Nevertheless, Law was better prepared for today than Wednesday for sure. He wore an old, fully zipped black hoodie with normal jeans and then of course, his white spotted hat. Because of Law's warnings of poison ivy, his sister reluctantly wore something similar.

Law patted her on the head before walking ahead to the large oak tree. He has a memo pad prepared on his phone to briefly show the ghost kid as a heads up for today's plans. And yes, another reset did happen, but this time around, Law was able to remind the kid what was important to him without fail. It honestly felt like the first time they weren't strangers right off the bat. He made progress. Law is actually making progress.

"Torao!" Law smiled in quick acknowledgment before taking out his phone.

"Law!" He heard called out from not too far behind. Crap, he doesn't even have his phone out yet. "Where are you going?"

"Who's that?" the boy said obviously curious.

Law quickly turned away from the ghost kid, almost awkwardly, and said, "I was just going to google where to find that, uh, beetle normally…"

"Oh, the Giant Stag Beetle?" she laughed. "It'll be in the forest of course. Why else would I wear this old sweatshirt when it's _this _hot outside?"

"Giant Stag Beetle!?" There were sparkles in the ghost kid's eyes. Actual bright yellow stars.

"But you should go on and play," Fuck, Law just needs a minute to explain, so that the ghost kid doesn't follow them into the forest. He'll just get dizzy, and maybe it actually hurts him or…? Law doesn't know what happens for sure, but what he does know is that he doesn't want to push the ghost's limits. Not until he can leave on his own. "I'll get you when-"

"Law, I know what we have to look for and it's that way." She pointed towards the forest in the opposite direction of the park. He needs to get out of this and soon.

"Torao," the ghost kid said, maybe even noticing how uncomfortable Law seems at the very moment, "Who is she?"

"Lamie."

"Hmm?" she responded normally.

Law cringed now realizing he replied to the boy—the ghost Lamie obviously can't see. "Lamie, do you-" he awkwardly said, struggling to think of a question on the spot "…have your trap prepared?"

"Trap? Why?" the boy asked. "Oh, you guys are going to catch something?" He kept on blabbing, filling Law's ears with a variety of questions. He needs to shut up. "Wait, you guys are going to catch that Giant Stag Beetle?"

"Law?" Lamie asked again. Law barely heard her.

"Can I come? It's an adventure, right? I have to go. I'm going with you guys. Okay? Torao!"

"No. You can't come," Law snapped. "You nearly passed out last time from leaving the park. And _Christ_, shut the fuck up already!"

"Law?" She said, stepping forward instead of back. Even though she looks taken aback, Lamie is standing her ground. "What do you mean I can't come? Isn't this why you brought me here?"

"No…God, no. Not you…" He slowly shook his head, looking pretty horrified at this point. Shit, Law didn't mean that. He would never yell at her of all people. This was a mistake. Coming here was a mistake "Lamie, sorry. I didn't mean you. Sorry."

"Law?" She said again, grabbing both of Law's hands. "What's going on? Why are you using those nasty words? You never swear!"

"It's… uh—"

'_I don't want some ghost to take you away!'_

"—nothing," Law glanced down at the boy then back at Lamie. Law can't say anything. She'll worry. But it'll be worse if he doesn't at this point. She is already upset. He can feel it in her grip.

"There is someone here I would like to introduce to you."

She looked around perplexed, letting go of Law's hands. "Oh! Is this like that time when you told me about Bepo?"

Bepo… his stuffed polar bear? No, that's right. It can be exactly like that. That time at the hospital. The time when Law regularly started staying overnight—for the _second_ time. Lamie was too young to remember the first. But the second time, she was scared—terrified. Her eyes always red when she visited. Even though by then, Law was used to being alone. However, that didn't change that she was worried sick, so he made up an imaginary friend—for _her_ peace of mind. It worked.

"Yeah, it's like that. Meet my… friend, Straw Hat-ya," he said, gesturing awkwardly in the ghost kid's direction and sighed. It may or may not have been his go to response for any ghost meetings that occurred during his stay at the hospital as well.

"Torao called me his _friend!"_ The boy beamed.

Lamie stood there with a blank expression for a moment. "What kind of name is that?" she burst out laughing. "And why the '-ya'? He's _your_ imaginary friend right? Have more faith in him."

"_Friennndddd~_" The boy continued to smile.

"Straw Hat-ya, this is Lamie—my little sister," he said, purposely not adding 'Trafalgar' in the front. There is no need for _two_ Toraos.

"Nice to meet you… Straw Hat," she said, gesturing a victory sign with her hand and winked. "So Law, what does your imaginary friend look like? Describe him!"

"Uh… He wears a straw hat. Has a red T-shirt on…jean shorts. There's a small scar under his right eye…" Law stopped when he figured he covered the basics.

"You stink at this," Lamie stated bluntly.

"You asked."

"Your imagination is terrible."

"I know."

"Guys, guys! Check this out!" The boy shouted from the opposite side of the tree. Law didn't even realize he left. "There is a _HERCULES_ Beetle over here!"

"Hey, Lamie?" He asked in a nonchalant tone. "What is a Hercules Beetle?"

Lamie's eyes lit up and then she took a deep breath. "According to my Animal Crossing museum, 'Horned Herculeses' are the largest beetles in the world, reaching over 17 cm in exceptional cases. Their two long horns look pretty, but—'"

"Okay, okay. Well, apparently there is one over there. On this tree."

"You're kidding, those only live in rainforests-" she began. But no, there was a giant-ass fucking beetle just slightly revealed from the back of the tree. "No way! I see it. It really_ is_ huge! What do I do? Law, what do I do? These shouldn't even live in this region. Maybe in Jaya, but not here. I'm scared. We have to do something," she said in an excited frenzy. "It's going to fly away!"

"No, it's not," Law said pulling the net from his sister's backpack. Lamie glanced up to him with sparkly eyes, and nodded in silent approval, not to scare it away. She clung on the hem of Law's hoodie as they slowly moved around the large trunk of the tree.

Law could feel the nervous sweat drip down his forehead as they crept around the tree. Luckily there was mostly dirt patches from the shade of the tree, so they can avoid the shuffling of the grass. However, the trade-off involved stepping over the exposed roots as they appeared. The ghost kid was still gawking over the beetle. Luckily, he can't scare it even if he tries. Law and Lamie were so close now. If they fail, would it get pissed off and attack? If they succeed, can it break through the net and attack? Its horn is huge—like massive. It isn't called the largest beetle for nothing. He looked down at Lamie. She is just as tense, but she was smiling. Yeah, Law couldn't back down now. Just a little closer now.

_-CRASH-_

Lamie tripped over a root, pushing straight into Law. As they fell to the ground, Law swung the net against the tree. It wall all or nothing. Law flinched waiting for an angry attack of a murderous insect, but nothing. He eyed the net and it was there. He did it— no. They did it! He laughed in relief, head slightly spinning from the adrenaline taking over. He glanced over to Lamie who was more interested in looking up.

"Hey…" she said. "Is that a treehouse?"

"_WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!_"

The ghost kid wailed loudly. Too loudly.

"Sorry what was that Lamie?" he said rubbing his ears, "Missed what you said."

"IT IS _CRUSHED!_"

"Law, there is a treehouse," she said again, but Law still can't hear well over the boy's cries. "I'm going to check it out."

"IT'S NOT GOING TO MAKE IT!"

"Goddamn it Straw Hat-Ya! I can't hear a word she is saying!" Law Barked, but then stopped when he looked up. "Lamie, what are you doing?"

"Law! It's okay. I'm nearly there."

"TORAOOO!"

"Get down," he said sternly. Law still can't climb up there yet. What if she gets stuck? "It's dangerous!"

But, she made it up just fine. Kid strength is amazing. "What does 'ASL' stand for?" she called from above.

"YOU HAVE TO DO _SOMETHING!_"

Law at first raised an eyebrow but eventually called out loud enough for her to hear, "Age, sex, location… Why?"

"No silly, not that," she said making her way back down. "It's on a flag up there. A black flag."

Law noticed the boy finally shut up. Though, Tears and snot were still dripping down his face. "T-there is… a black-k flag up there," the boy said in between sobs, "…it's like a p-pirate ship!"

Law chuckled, shaking his head in response. Now he knows why pirates come up every week. He wonders if there is anything else up there, but doesn't ask. He'll have the boy give him a tour when the day comes.

"Oh no," Lamie knelt down near the net. "What happened to Mr. Hercules Beetle?"

"Oh," Law said, remembering all the loud fussing from the boy, but hasn't inspected the damage until now. Appears that the edge of the net smashed the shell, fracturing the exposed wings underneath, and mostly ending its life. It was still twitching slightly, but it won't last long. "Looks like I killed it. Sorry."

She sighed. "You know in Animal Crossing, I always wondered if the bugs would have been accidentally killed if I were to swing the net too soon or at a wrong angle. Now I know what really happens," she said in an oddly indifferent tone despite all the earlier hype. Then again, something similar happened a few months back when a mouse got trapped in the garage. "So… are you going to dissect it?"

Law looked over to the sobbing ghost kid and shook his head. "No, let's bury it. It's a _Hercules_ Beetle after all. It deserves some sort of send-off."

Together they dug a hole in the ground right under where they found it on the tree and carefully placed the now fully dead body into it. Lamie did the honors and refilled and patted down the hole. This beetle probably has one of the best graves a bug can hope for. Not only did Lamie boarder it with black and white pebbles, she topped the grave off with some wildflowers. And of course, the ghost kid cried during the entire process.

Lamie decided to stop with the bug hunting for the day before they cause any more accidental deaths. It's a park so they had more to do than hang around the greenery anyway. Law, Lamie, and eventually the ghost kid played on the park's equipment. He came around when Lamie took out the lunch boxes from her bag. At some point, Lamie asked the 'imaginary friend' if he wanted to sit on her lap. Of course, he agreed. For the remainder of the time, the boy 'sat' on Lamie's lap for the swings and seesaw. He may have tried sitting on Law a few times before Lamie first offered, but Law wasn't having any of it. He wasn't exactly comfortable with a ghost going through his body.

"Why does Lamie call me an imaginary friend?" the boy asked as Law was leaving. Lamie already crossed the street.

"Maybe you are," Law replied looking at the now orange sky. "Maybe it's okay if you are just that."

"Torao, you're mean."

**x_x_x**

**Tuesday—16 September, 2014 **

After almost a month since transferring, Law finally feels ready for gym class. Though, he may have accidentally missed the seventh grade class by an hour, so Law is stuck with the sixth or eighth graders if he were to go today. He chose the sixth graders. Besides, it'll be better this way. He already knows Chopper in that class. They might never really interact outside of academics, but it'll be better than having to run extra laps with the eighth graders.

After changing into some generic sweatpants and the gym uniform t-shirt, Law eventually found the class on a blacktop in front of the track field. It doesn't seem like the coach has arrived yet considering most kids were just sitting around, chatting like normal. Soon, Chopper called out to Law from the distance. He is pretty recognizable with his white hat after all. Law wondered why Chopper was alone on the sidelines. After further investigation, it turns out the small student sprained his ankle on the stairs earlier, so he is sitting out. Chopper soon voiced his concerns about Usopp not having a partner for the day. They have a buddy system in this class for stretches and laps around the track field, and not many people want to be 'slowed down' by Usopp. Chopper swears he wasn't like this a year ago. But, the way that long nose kid eats, Law is not surprised.

Class soon began and people started pairing up like Chopper said. Law noticed fairly early on that there was an odd number of people, so he waited for people to choose their normal friends and groups. He now knows he really doesn't know anyone in the class besides Chopper, who's sitting out, and Usopp, whom he barely knew at all. He only talked to him once at the cafeteria about a week ago.

Eventually most paired up, leaving Law out. Which is fine, he can do this whole gym thing another day. Before leaving, he noticed that Usopp looked extremely uncomfortable being paired up with this small, green haired girl. Sure, Law thought that Usopp was uncomfortable around himself, but no, he was wrong after watching this little interaction. Usopp was standing at least four feet away from her, and Law could practically see the nervous sweat on the boy from across the two basketball fields painted on the asphalt below. But, she didn't seem to care in the slightest.

Remembering Chopper's concerns, Law reluctantly approached the awkward pair, "Nose-ya, are you okay? You look a little pale."

"Aaaah! D-don't sneak up on me like that," he yelped, jumping back a bit. "_Hey!_ And my name is Usopp!—"

Law moved his attention from Usopp to the green haired girl. She was a little smaller than the average student, but nothing too unusual besides her hair color. Law was trying to see why Usopp appeared to be bothered by her. But really, she seemed like a normal, healthy girl. Law honestly didn't find anything unusual until he looked her directly in the eyes. It was like staring into a mirror—one from the past. He soon realized her smile was anything but real. Though it was strange, someone normal like Usopp shouldn't be able to recognize that.

"—since when were you in this class?" Law almost forgot the long nose kid was still talking, but he managed to catch the last question.

"Since now."

The girl soon noticed Law watching her, and stared back. He watched her blue eyes move from up to down and then back up to his face, making eye contact one more. She frowned.

"You should reconsider your choice in company," she commented, neither of them breaking eye contact.

"Hey, what was that?" Usopp took a shaky defensive stance in front of Law. "That's no way to talk to one of_ my_ friends."

The girl sighed and started walking towards the two boys.

"You smell like death," she whispered briefly to Law as she strolled past the two of them. His eyes narrowed at her words.

"Ehh, you smell fine to me." Startled, Law turned around to see Chopper right next to him. Sometimes he forgets how strong that boy's sense of hearing can be—and smell for that matter. "Mostly like hand sanitizer."

"Thanks, Tony-ya?" he said raising an eyebrow. Law looked around for the said girl, but she was no longer in sight. Should he be relieved?

"Her name is Sugar by the way," Chopper said limping towards the bleachers close by.

Usopp gestured Law to follow him and the small boy over to the edge of the field. If it's just stretching, then they can do that wherever as long as it's on the blacktop.

"Don't you agree that she seems, well… off?" Usopp said to Law as he attempted to reach his toes. "She just showed up randomly this year."

"I did as well," Law stated flatly.

"Yeah, you did. I honestly thought might have been part of _their _group with all those rumors," he said with slight hesitation, "…but you turned out to be a friend of Chopper's, which means you are a friend of mine." He smirked, holding up a thumbs up. In response, Law pushed the long nose kid's back forward, forcing him to stretch far out of his comfort range.

"That was the first time I heard her talk," Chopper commented.

"Nami heard her speak once before, but indirectly." Law noticed the long nose kid's frown as they traded places.

"To whom?" Chopper asked with curiosity.

"I don't know." He sighed, pushing down on Law probably a little too hard. He was reaching his toes just fine without Usopp's help. "But even_ she _got the heebie-jeebies from Sugar afterwards."

"Heebie-jeebies?" Chopper said in a panic. "Is that some sort of disease? We need to bring her to the hospital!"

"She's fine, Tony-ya." Law sighed, pushing Usopp away. He had to explain the idiom fully before Chopper finally understood that it was just a figure of speech.

"So Nami is ditching again?" Chopper brought his knees to his chest.

"Seems like it," Usopp said. He rolled his arms in small circles, continuing the warm ups.

Chopper sighed. "I'm worried about her…"

"Yeah, but she knows who to avoid," Usopp stated reassuringly. "It's not like she'll try pick pocketing from someone like Eustass Kid." He chuckled and directed his attention back to his partner. "Oh, Law if you see an assertive redhead, be careful. You look like the type she would target."

"Usopp!" Chopper cried.

"It's true! Just look at him!" Usopp said abruptly. "He seems pretty weak. That plus his custom schedule must mean he is a rich kid." He soon stopped, most likely because Law looked more than a little irritated at this point. "Ah, no offense."

"What was that, Nose-ya?" Law snapped back, gritting his teeth. He might not be that strong, but he figures he can at least take on the boy in front of him. "Are you trying to start something?"

"Guys..?" Chopper whined, trying to get their attention.

"I am the great Usopp," The long nose kid declared, striking a proud pose. "_Warrior_ of the seas, I don't lose to _anyone!_"

"_Guys!_ You should be starting laps now," Chopper shouted, getting up to pat both boys on the back. "Good luck!"

"Thanks," Law cackled at Chopper before heading off past the fence to the track field. "He'll need it."

The class has to run eight laps—or two miles—around the track within 30 minutes. Law may have sped past Usopp to begin with, but the long nose kid shortly caught up since Law momentarily forgot about the whole pacing thing. He was already burnt out by the second lap. Usopp just continued to grin, which fueled Law with enough motivation to at least finish within the assigned time frame. They were the last two to complete the run, but still, Usopp beat Law by a couple of seconds.

Law decided he'll edit his routine to add in some more cardio over just pure strength building. He'll win against Usopp next time for sure.

**x_x_x**

Lately, Law found himself searching for more photography books over children's stories—especially the ones purely about nature. That ghost kid definitely has seen a lot of the outdoors. Nevertheless, the more he thinks about it, isn't it weird the boy hasn't left yet? He knows his dream, and obviously can't achieve it in his current state. So, what is binding him to that park? His stubbornness? Anyway, Law does feel slightly reassured that he is too loud to simply be a figment of imagination.

"Not studying today either?"

Law didn't bother turning his head around knowing it was the assistant teacher. "I already finished, Nico-ya."

"Is that so?" She moved to Law's side to browse the books in front of them. "Photography books, hmmm..." she said more to herself. "Wait there, I have just the one for you."

Robin left to go to the front of the room behind the librarian's counter. Law just sighs. He enjoys her company and all. It's calm and comforting for the most part, but her tastes are a little… dark? The ghost kid said he had nightmares from her last selection. Robin soon came back with a hard covered book. "It might just be his hobby now," she began saying. On the front was a massive, pillar-like mountain with a giant cloud of pink smoke. It looked exactly like a cherry blossom tree. "…but Shanks was a great photographer before he lost his hat, and well, arm."

The student began to raise an eyebrow but decided to simply nod instead. Though one thing for sure, the man's name stands out to him. Law has heard that name somewhere, but no matter how hard he searches in his mind, nothing is ringing any bells.

"The cover looks familiar." At least he recognizes the location. Lamie has been printing out pictures of that place nonstop. Even his parents booked a hotel already. "That is Drum Kingdom, right?"

"It's called Sakura Kingdom now," Robin chuckled, correcting the boy. She turning to another page of that pink cloud. "To honor Dr. Hiluluk, the place was renamed. He was the first to bring 'Cherry Blossoms' to that region."

Law closed his eyes and smiled. "Yeah, that sounds like something he would do."

Robin almost looked surprised, but she only hummed in response. After a moment of silence, she began to speak once more, "So, you must have met them at the hospital—Dr. Hiluluk and Chopper."

"Yeah," Law answered.

"I see." She closed the book and handed it to the white hatted boy. "If this book is of any use, tell me."

"Okay."

After placing the book down on a table with the rest of his stuff. Law soon brought his full attention to the back wall. Instead of the normal piano, a violin was in its place. The melody was actually recognizable today. It was Chopin's Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2, but Law couldn't remember the name outside the nostalgic tune. His mom has played it on the piano a few times before. Surely enough, Law's dazed expression didn't go unnoticed. "Do you hear that piano again?" Robin asked.

"No, a violin," Law commented.

"From that wall…" Robin's eyes narrowed in response. "Do you recognize the song?"

"Some classical song," a girl called out from behind. Before Law even fully turned around, she was pulling him away by his arm.

It was Perona.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Law hissed.

"Shut up and come with me," the girl barked back. Her frown soon softened to a small smile. "But I'm glad my intuition was correct."

Law sighed. Sure, he was surprised to say the least that she could at least recognize the instrument being played unlike Chopper or Robin, but his notes, that book, and everything else on him besides his clothes on his back are still on the table. He is sure Robin will keep them safe, and maybe he is just a _little_ curious about the mystery piano—well, violin today. The further they went, the quieter the music became. Isn't that counterproductive? Before he realized it, they already ran past several classrooms, lockers, and the currently empty music room before reaching the back exit of the building.

"You can hear them, too!" she turned around and grinned, before pushing open the glass doors.

"The instruments?" Law questioned, confused. Why are they outside?

"Well that," Perona said "but more importantly— _ghosts!_" She let go of Law's sleeve to outline a chubby ghost silhouette with her fingers. The boy just stood there in visible shock. She's got to be kidding, but then again, he had a feeling that something was off when_ Chopper_ of all people couldn't hear the music. That boy's hearing isn't natural.

"Stop gawking, and come on!" She took hold of Law's sleeve once more since he was still standing there with his head in the clouds. "I have a friend for you to meet."

Now the music was louder than ever. They were standing in front of what looks like to be a storage closet of some sort against the side of the main school building. Law has never been on this side considering it's the staff's parking lot. Most of the wall near the door was just plaster and bricks. There was one single dark window covered in cobwebs from the inside. Looks abandoned for sure.

"Mr. Ghost! I found someone who can hear your music!" Perona shouted as she slammed the door open. The melody in the room stopped. "This time for sure."

After a small coughing fit from the onslaught of dust, Law darted his eyes around the room. There were racks of old moth-eaten costumes, scene boards, a wall of formal group shots of previous plays, and of course, a single black piano with wheels. He soon moved his gaze back to Perona, but her eyes weren't even focused on anything in particular. One thing is for sure, there is no one in here let alone a ghost. Law sighed in disappointment. He must be following one of those 'horror' stories he sometimes hears in passing—and more recently, Lamie.

"Yohohoho!" A silhouette of a skeleton came out from behind a rack of medieval costumes. The skeleton had a large poofy afro and was dressed up in an old fashioned suit complete with a top hat. The skeleton was massive in height, almost the same height as the ceiling with that hair—maybe wig? "Is that so?"

Law jumped.

"Shit! That anatomy model just moved!"

"Anatomy model? Are you talking about a prop?" Perona said, squinting her eyes. "Where?"

"That skeleton right fucking there!" Law barked, pointing straight forward and up. "How can you miss it? It's taller than most ceilings!"

"Are you an idiot? There is nothing like that here." She shook her head.

"_Aaah!_" The towering skeleton moved its ultra-thin arms close together for a… shiver? "Did he say a skeleton?_ Where?_"

Recognizing where voice is coming from this time, Law pinched the bridge of his nose. "_You_ are the ghost?"

"I guess I can't see the skeleton because I don't have-" the skeleton began to say. "Oh wait, he is talking about me, Miss Perona. Yohohoho!"

"Skeleton?" The girl questioned, pouting. "That isn't cute at all!"

"How peculiar that you can see me," The skeleton said, placing a boney finger against his cheekbone. "Oh, then you can see me do this!" It stepped back to lean face first into the wall. "45 degrees!"

Law snorted only to cover his face in embarrassment. This the strangest ghost he has seen yet.

"_What?_ That's not fair. I want to see ghosts, too!" Perona complained. "Have you seen other ghosts? If you were surprised by Mr. Ghost, then do the others look, well-" She said, taking out a plushie of a patched-up bear with a weird blue and white hat from her frilly backpack. "…like this?"

"No, they look like normal people." He tried stating with a simple shrug, but ended up chuckling at the skeleton still in that odd pose instead.

"You smiled!" the skeleton said happily.

"Ehh," she said, lowering her plushie in disappointment. "That's so _boring!_"

"Well, I wasn't always a skeleton." It zigzagged past the racks of clothes and props to the adjacent side of the wall. The skeleton pointed to one of the older black and white group shots on the wall. Yeah, that tall, thin man with the afro and top hat was definitely the ghost currently in sight. Perona was able to guess which one the ghost was as well, considering the scrunched up face she is now wearing.

"Oh how rude of me, I haven't even introduced myself yet," the skeleton said turning to Law. "My name is Brook, and as you can see, I once was the music teacher of this school." He stuck out his hand to the boy

"Trafalgar Law," he said. Law tried accepting the handshake out of habit only to go right through the boney hand and sighed.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Trafalgar." The skeleton known as Brook bowed slightly. "You are officially the third person who knows of my current state, however you are the first to actually see me. This is so exciting that it makes my heart leap for joy," he swayed around excitedly and then stopped. "Although as a skeleton, I don't have a heart, Yohohoho!"

"Third?" Law asked.

"I was the second," Perona declared proudly.

"The first was this kind boy, much younger than the two of you," he said with a voice of reminiscence. "I haven't seen that boy around recently. I hope he is alright."

"So Bone-ya, I take it you've been here for a while?" Law looks around the dusty, almost abandoned room.

"It's been just about 50 years now since that boy first spotted me." Law narrowed his eyes. He has never heard of a ghost hanging around for that long. "I was so surprised! I almost gave up that anyone would ever hear my group's songs again, but there he was."

"How did you die?" Perona asked bluntly.

"I once followed my dreams and joined a group of traveling musicians," Brook said leaning his skull into the palm of his boney hand. "However during our travels, we caught Jungle fever. Anyway, we all died one by one before ever making it back to civilization."

"No offense, but why are you still here? Why not cross over?" Law questioned with a slight scowl on his face.

"I'm getting to that, Mr. Trafalgar!" Brook whined. "Well, our last song was never recorded, so I stayed behind to make sure that it would be heard. It was our leader's favorite song after all." He plopped on the piano bench. "By the time, I found my body again, it was already over 30 years. I was nothing left but what you see now—a skeleton! Yohohoho. "

"How did something like that take 30 years?" Perona laughed. "Are you an idiot or something?"

"What about your limits?" Law questioned again. He has never heard a ghost with a story like his.

"Limits?" Brook tilted his head slightly to the side.

"Every ghost I've met can't leave the building, or well-" He paused thinking of the ghost kid. "…perimeters of a location without feeling sick or passing out."

"Oh, I recall feeling like that in the very beginning. After a while that wears off." The skeleton shrugged, and then picked up the violin. "I was even able to play music again shortly after!"

"Why didn't you give up?" Law asked once more, clenching his fists tightly. "What can you even hope to accomplish as a ghost?"

"How rude!" Brook dramatically put both hands on his cheekbones. "But, I may have tried at one point, but…" he muttered quietly under his breath, but then spoke up in his usual cheerful tone, "You guys are here right? That is more than enough evidence that my final goal can be reached, Yohohoho!"

"Your song…" The boy said after a sigh. "What is it like?"

"I'm going to guess something old."

"Not at all! Let me play it for you two. Our song's name is Bink's Sake." Brook made the violin disappear with a poof of smoke before turning over to the direction of the piano instead of towards the kids.

As Brook started to somehow make sound from the piano with his ghostly fingers, the two kids made themselves comfortable on a makeshift bench from an old chest of props. They listened to Brook sing and play the piano merrily. At first they both watched quietly, but Perona soon joined in the singing half way through. However, Law continued to just sit there, but now with a smile. Sure, normally he would question this ghost's apparent 'abilities', but his mind was on something else. The ghost kid is real.

**A/N:**

**So, I was only able to complete just this one chapter during break (and this week). The rest of the part is outlined at least, but the next few updates may be slow until around mid-May. **

**Thanks for reading so far! **


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